Until recently, the international community failed to adopt either an agreed limit for the breadth of the territorial sea or a satisfactory regime of fisheries in the waters adjacent to the territorial sea. This provoked an eruption of unilateral acts by which coastal states extended their jurisdiction towards the high seas. The Third U.N. Conference on the Law of the Sea accepted the establishment of a 12-mile territorial sea and a 200-mile exclusive economic zone. While taking into account the non-existent rights and interests of the so-called geographically disadvantaged states and of states with broad continental shelves, the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea practically ignored existing rights and interests of habitual fishing states. It maintained the well-established principle of freedom of fishing on the high seas but with specific conditions. Dissatisfied with the Convention's regulation of fishing on the high seas, a few states elected to hold a U.N. Conference on Straddling and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks which adopted the 1995 Agreement for the implementation of the provisions of the Convention relating to the conservation and management of such stocks. Similarly, some of these states, like Chile, Argentina, and Canada, adopted legislation extending their jurisdiction beyond their respective 200-mile fishing or exclusive economic zones. This book explores these events in the historical development of the international regulations of fisheries and concludes with a look into recent developments in the area.

Antarctica is the last, most inhospitable frontier on earth, yet it presents a great number of unresolved conflicts between nations, individuals, environmentalists, scientists & business groups. The International Law of Antarctica addresses the crucial question of how international law can respond to claims that will certainly shape tomorrow's Antarctica. The author adopts a policy-oriented approach & focuses on the primary issue of determining the effective norms by which the process of value shaping & sharing develops in Antarctica, & to what extent such norms satisfy the prevailing aspirations of the world community. Where discrepancies are significant policies are proposed that may better meet such aspirations, as well as methods for their implementation. Part I of this study describes the social, power, & legal processes relating to Antarctica; reviews the geographic, technological, economic, & historical context in which these processes evolve, & how their special features affect such processes; & finally postulates the basic community policies with reference to which the process of claims & decisions in Antarctica are analyzed. Part II focuses on national claims to Antarctica by reviewing claims relating to the modes to establish exclusive appropriation of the area. Part III is a detailed examination of specific claims to Antarctica resources: claims to mineral & living resources, & claims relating to space-extension resources, namely, Antarctica sea & air space. It is concluded by an appraisal of the congruence of the existing order of Antarctica with the postulated basic policies, critically reviewing proposals for a new order, & advancing long-term & more immediate alternatives.

This book investigates competing constructions of areas beyond national jurisdiction, and their role in the creation and articulations of legal principles, providing a broader perspective on the ongoing negotiation at the UN on marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction.

This book has its genesis in materials collected in the Hestern Central Atlantic region in preparation for a regional seminar on the Changing Law of the Sea and its Implications for Fisheries in the Hestern Atlantic. The Seminar, which was organised by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN and funded by the Norwegian government, was held in Havana, Cuba, 1980. Most of the materials were gathered by the authors as a result of direct contact with the fisheries authorities of the region, and supplemented where possible by information obtained from public sources for the remaining countries not visited. Twenty seven countries in the region were visited, and the authors were able to obtain materials much of which is not readily accessible except in the individual countries. In writing this book, the authors have become indebted to many people for their advice and assistance. He wish to thank in particular the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations for permitting use to be made of papers submitted to the Havana seminar, and to the following members of that Organisation: L.