Traveling through waterways is definitely the oldest and one of the most efficient ways of travel, but not necessarily the smoothest. The need for a system for an endangered ship to seek help while it is 51 in the middle of an ocean has been felt ever since the first voyage happened. Since long, various forms of emergency signals have been used. One of the most commonly used 52 signal is maritime signal flares. These flares when fired 53 a minute indicate a ship in extreme danger and asking for help. This, however, is the form used today, an earlier version of 54 was developed by Martha Coston based on a framework laid by her deceased husband around 1850s. Coston’s system underwent many modifications and was later 55 by the American marine services and standardized to be used all over America. Thanks to Coston’s invention, ships now has much more to rely on when they run into troubles in the ocean.

Patrol vessels and inspectors are generally authorized to use whatever minimal force is necessary to keep them safe in the face of 56 of any sudden danger. Some regional fishery management organizations, such as Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization, specifically 57 that fishery inspectors will be unarmed during routine inspections. This policy can be accepted if the subject of the boarding is a member State fishing vessel with 58 on the High Seas Vessel Authorization Record, shown to have a valid authorization to fish from the flag State. However, the policy of unarmed inspectors should have limits, such as the boarding of a non-cooperative stateless fishing vessel 59 contact with the patrol vessel and abandoning its gear in the water. Since the end of the Second World War and the dramatic expansion of high seas fishing and the concurrent birth of international conventions and regional fishery management organizations to regulate and control fishing, there has been a long standing effort to define, 60 , and quantify high seas fishing vessel boarding and inspection schemes.