Fish Population Dynamic and Stock Assessment

10.5.2. Excerpts Pertaining to Fisheries from the law of the Sea

After centuries of piecemeal development of the Law of the Sea, a process began in 1969 under the United Nations to prepare a comprehensive legal code. It was agreed to cover 25 main subjects, most of which involve several issues.

The subjects pertaining especially to fisheries included

· No.5, continental shelf;

· No.6, Exclusive Economic Zone beyond the territorial sea;

· No.7, coastal state preferential rights or other nonexclusive jurisdiction over resources beyond the territorial sea;

· No.8, high seas;

· No.9 landlocked countries;

· No.10, rights and interests of shelf-locked states and states with narrow shelves or short coastlines;

· No.12, preservation of the marine environment;

· No.13, scientific research.

After several arduous meetings, a convention was adopted on 30 April 1982 [Simmonds K.R. (1983), “United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982. “Oceana, Dobbs Ferry, New York. It is a complex document containing 320 articles plus annexes that deal with virtually all human activities outside the territorial sea. When it was presented to member countries for a vote, a large majority approved, several obtained, and four, including the United State, declined to ratify. (The U.S. Disagreed with the provisions regarding marine mining.) Many matters often remain difficult or abstruse and debate will continue, but the provisions with respect to fisheries have been widely agreed upon. The principal articles (much abbreviated) are as follows.

56. Rights , jurisdiction and duties of the coastal State in the exclusive economic zone. In the exclusive zone, the coastal State has: (a) sovereign rights for the purpose of exploring and exploiting, conserving and managing the natural resources, whether living or non-living.

57. Breadth of the exclusive economic zone. The exclusive economic zone shall not extend beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured.