Semi Enclosed Seas

This edited volume brings together distinguished scholars in an interdisciplinary discussion of the implementation of Article 123 of the LOSC in East Asia and Europe and offers insights for promoting maritime cooperation in semi-enclosed seas.

Hydrodynamics of Semi-Enclosed Seas

Proceedings of the International Meeting on UNEP's Regional Programmes in Mediterranean and Caribbean Seas, Genoa, Italy, 12-14 February 1992 which concentrated on three issues of particular interest: water quality, coastal zone management, sea-level rise and the risks and consequences of erosion and flooding.

This edited volume brings together distinguished scholars in an interdisciplinary discussion of the implementation of Article 123 of the LOSC in East Asia and Europe and offers insights for promoting maritime cooperation in semi-enclosed seas.

The current jurisdictional status of the Mediterranean Sea is remarkable. Nearly 50 per cent of the Mediterranean waters are high seas and therefore beyond the jurisdiction of coastal States. This situation means that there are no points in the Mediterranean Sea where the coasts of two States would be more than 400 nautical miles apart. Such a legal situation generally prevents coastal States from adopting and enforcing their laws on the Mediterranean high seas, in respect of many important fields such as the protection and preservation of the marine environment, as well as the conservation of marine living resources. The jurisdictional landscape of the Adriatic Sea as a sub-sea and sub-region of the Mediterranean, is even more interesting. Croatia has proclaimed an Ecological and Fisheries Protection Zone, Slovenia has proclaimed a Zone of Ecological Protection, while Italy has adopted a framework law for the proclamation of its Zone of Ecological Protection without proclaiming its regime in the Adriatic. It is noteworthy that if all Mediterranean and Adriatic States would proclaim an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), there would not be a single stretch of high seas left in the entire Mediterranean Sea. Both the Adriatic and Mediterranean fall in the category of enclosed or semi-enclosed seas regulated by Part IX of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). This book assesses the legal nature of Part IX of UNCLOS and discusses potential benefits of the extension of coastal State jurisdiction (proclamation of EEZs and/or similar sui generis zones), particularly in light of the recent calls towards an integrated and holistic approach to the management of different activities in the Mediterranean Sea. It examines the actual or potential extension of coastal State jurisdiction in the Adriatic Sea, against the background of similar extensions elsewhere in the Mediterranean and against the background of relevant EU policies. It additionally explores whether Part IX of UNCLOS imposes any duties of cooperation in relation to the extension of coastal State jurisdiction in enclosed or semi-enclosed seas, and puts forward practical suggestions as to how the issue of extension of coastal State jurisdiction could be approached in a way which would enhance States existing cooperation and improve the overall governance in the Mediterranean and Adriatic seas. This book will be of interest to policymakers and academics and students of international law, and the law of the sea.

Volume III is the fourth substantive volume to be published in this series, covering articles 86 to 132 of the 1982 Convention. These articles address the issue of States' rights and jurisdiction in maritime areas beyond the limits of national jurisdiction (with the exception of the international seabed area), as well as the regime to be applied to islands, in enclosed and semi-enclosed seas, and with the access of landlocked States to and from the sea. Volume III is a direct continuation of Volume II, which deals with maritime areas under the sovereignty of jurisdiction of a State, and completes the commentary on the provisions of the Convention negotiated under the auspices of the Second Committee at UNCLOS III. The work of the Second Committee was an integrated whole, and the unity of the theme has been spread over two volumes solely as a matter of convenience. A number of documentary annexes have been included in this volume.

Fjords are deep, glacia11y carved estuaries that are pecu1iar to certain coast1ines, and have severa1 characteristics that dist inguish them from sha110wer embayments. At higher latitudes they indent the western coast1ines of Scandinavia, North and South America, and New Zea1and. They are a1so a common feature of much of the arctic coast1ine. The papers contained in this vo1ume were presented at a workshop funded by the NATO Advanced Studies Institute in Victoria, British Co1umbia. It may seem curious to the reader that this specia1 c1ass of estuaries shou1d have attracted an international gathering of oceanographers from severa1 different discip1ines. The reas on for this interest stems from both practica1 and scientific considerations. On the one hand, fjords are a feature common to the coast1ines of severa1 countries that depend heavi1y on the oceans for communication, fisheries and other resources. The impact of man's activities on these coasts has created a demand for new know1edge of the physica1, bio10gica1 and chemica1 aspects of fjords. Sometimes man's inf1uence on the ocean is intentiona1 as, for examp1e, in the artificia1 contro1 of ice cover; often it is the more insidious bui1d-up of toxic wastes that is of concern. These prob1ems are particu1ar1y acute where the conf1icting demands of fisheries, industria1 deve10pment and re creation meet in a sing1e fjord; and indeed, this is a common occurence a10ng severa1 of the fjords in Scandinavia and Canada.

Collection of 20 essays by the author, republished as initially written in English or French. They reflect the development of the author's views as well as the evolution of the law of the sea itself since the beginning of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea.