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The Law of the Sea

The Law of the Sea. Law of the Sea. Governs who owns what and where in the ocean. 1604: Hugo Grotius, On the Law of Prize and Booty .

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The Law of the Sea

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  1. The Law of the Sea

  2. Law of the Sea • Governs who owns what and where in the ocean. • 1604: Hugo Grotius, On the Law of Prize and Booty. • Successfully defended Dutch trading rights in a dispute with Portugal. Defended free ocean access for all nations which formed basis for modern international laws of the sea. • 1703: Concept of territorial seas adjacent to land was recognized. • A country’s seaward boundary was set at 5 km or 3 miles – the distance a canon ball could be fired from shore. This stood until 1945.

  3. United Nations and International Law of the Sea After WWII, oil and natural gas was found beyond the 3 mile limit off the coast of Louisiana. President Harry Truman annexed the physical and biological resources of the continental shelf of the contiguous United States. Other nations soon followed. By 1988, The 140 nations of the UN had adopted the Convention on the Law of the Sea (with the US voting against it).

  4. Law of the Sea Territorial waters: Defined as extending 12 miles from shore. A nation has the right to jurisdiction within those waters. Straits for navigation are excluded and any vessel has a right to innocent passage. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ): 370 kilometers from a nation’s shoreline. Nations hold sovereignty over resources, economic activity, and environmental protection within their EEZ. (40% of entire ocean) High Seas: All ocean areas outside EEZs. Property to be shared by citizens of the world. (60% of entire ocean)

  5. United States Exclusive Economic Zone U.S. did not sign UN Convention. Concerned that private enterprise would be deprived of profits if it were made to share high seas resources with other countries. U.S. claimed sovereign rights and jurisdiction over all marine resources within its own 370 km region called the U.S. EEZ. Signed by President Reagan in 1983. U.S. EEZ claims rights to 4 million square miles of continental margins, an area 30% larger than the land area of the United States!

  6. U.S. EEZ

  7. Territorial Disputes • Canada, Russia, and The United States dispute who owns parts of the arctic continental margin • Large quantities of oil and natural gas as well as methane hydrates may be in arctic waters • All countries are currently mapping the ocean in this area to prove they own it. • United States and China: Dispute whether China has the right under international law to regulate U.S. and other foreign military activities within its 200 nautical maritime zone. • Disputes with China over territorial and economic rights over the South China Sea and the East China Sea.

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