International fisheries law has so far proven inadequate to prevent over-fishing on the high seas, a key cause of biodiversity loss in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ). The negotiation of the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement) provided an opportunity to respond decisively to the worsening problem. After some 20 years of preparation and negotiations, the BBNJ Agreement was concluded in 2023 and will enter into force in early 2026. From about mid-way through the process, the major distant-water fishing States advocated for a treaty text that minimised any significant impact upon their distant-water fishing operations. The terms of the BBNJ Agreement do not preclude its operationalisation contributing to a step change in protecting ABNJ from biodiversity loss by distant-water fishing operations but, at this point, such an outcome appears unlikely given the attitude of the distant-water fishing States during the negotiations, in combination with the institutional and decision-making provisions of the BBNJ Agreement.