China's jurisdiction over its offshore petroleum resources

Abstract

The recent promulgation of China's offshore petroleum regulations has attracted worldwide attention. The law is of particular importance to foreign investors due to possible massive involvement of foreign interests in China's biggest oil venture. However, the success of this multi‐billion‐dollar offshore oil development program hinges on a single issue: to what extent does China have the sovereign rights over its offshore mineral resources?

The aim of the present paper is to: (1) Review China's position on the continental shelf regime; (2) Discuss China's maritime boundary problems with its coastal neighbors in light of the new law of the sea; (3) Analyze China's options under the status quo in the region; and (4) Note briefly China's oil development policy based on the new offshore regulations.     

Some problems concerning the delimitation of the maritime boundary between the republic of china (Taiwan) and the Philippines

Abstract

This paper analyzes the issue of how the relevant provisions of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea can be applied to the delimitation of the maritime boundary in the Bashi Channel between Taiwan and the Philippine island of Luzon and in the South China Sea area. It concludes that the Philippines’ extensive territorial sea claim based on the 1898 U.S.‐Spanish Peace Treaty can hardly find any basis in customary rules of international law and the U.N. Convention and, therefore, should be disregarded in such delimitation. On the other hand, the archipelagic principle provided in the Convention can be applied here. With respect to rules of delimitation, it suggests that the equitable principle of the delimitation of the continental shelf, enunciated in the Anglo‐French Continental Shelf Arbitration (1977) and the Tunisian‐Libyan Continental Shelf Case (1982), can mutatis mutandis be applied to the delimitation of the maritime boundary. As an interim solution, the maritime boundary of certain disputed islands in the South China Sea should be declared neutral zones open to nationals of both countries.     

Defining Seaward Boundaries in a Domestic Context: Norway and the Svalbard Archipelago

Abstract

This article analyzes a little-noticed aspect of the international legal controversy pertaining to Svalbard’s maritime zones. It concerns where and by which method Norway should draw the boundaries between Svalbard’s continental shelf and the 200-mile zone, on the one hand, and other maritime zones subject to Norwegian jurisdiction, on the other. The assumption upon which the discussion rests is that the Spitsbergen Treaty signatories enjoy treaty rights in the maritime zones beyond Svalbard’s territorial waters. The law of the sea does not contain rules on the drawing of maritime boundaries between different parts of a state’s territory, but the rules on delimitation between states offer a strong analogy. In the search for an equitable solution, primacy should be given to geographical factors. The article argues that Norway could do more to enhance the openness regarding the Svalbard delimitation question since its outcome will be of significant interest to other states.     

A Tribunal Navigating Complex Waters: Implications of the Bay of Bengal Case

The International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea's March 2012 Judgment in the Bay of Bengal Case is a landmark decision in multiple ways. It represents the first maritime boundary to be delimitated by the Tribunal. It is the first adjudication of a maritime boundary in Asia, and it is also the first judicial delimitation of a maritime boundary for parts of the extended continental shelf located seaward of the 200-nautical-mile limit from baselines. While the Tribunal's ruling largely resolves the maritime dispute between Bangladesh and Myanmar, it also raises a number of questions and concerns that are highlighted in this article, including the Tribunal's approach to delimitation both within and beyond the 200-nautical-mile limit, the treatment of islands, the interplay between law of the sea institutions and the creation of a so-called grey area where continental shelf jurisdiction falls to one state and water column jurisdiction to the other.     

The European economic community and the law of the sea

Abstract

The European Economic Community (EEC) has the competence, to the exclusion of its Member States, to conclude international agreements in important fields, such as fisheries, on which the draft convention on the law of the sea contains provisions. Contracting parties to the future Law of the Sea Convention will not be allowed to make reservations to the convention or participate in it on a partial basis. It follows there‐from that provisions must be envisaged which would allow the EEC to become a contracting party to the convention together with its Member States. This article outlines the legal background for participation by the EEC in international agreements and indicates the main provisions of interest to the EEC in the draft convention prepared at UNCLOS III.     

The domestic context of Brazilian maritime policy

Abstract

The domestic context of Brazil's emerging maritime policy is discussed from three perspectives. Basic national policy guidelines are examined first, with particular attention given to their, influence in shaping maritime policy. Bureaucratic politics has shaped, and been shaped by, these guidelines, and is examined in a subsequent section. International politics, too, has played an important role in shaping Brazilian maritime policy, and its relationship to the domestic context is explored in a final section. The crucial decision to extend the territorial sea to 200 mi in 1970, including its historical background and aftermath, illustrates these forces shaping maritime policy. Other maritime issues are analyzed to illustrate these forces when relevant.

It is acknowledged that Brazil's prominent position in the South Atlantic has not led it to become a maritime‐oriented state. Increasing efforts have nevertheless been made during the past decade to utilize ocean space and the resources of the sea for national policy ends. As Brazilian maritime policy gained cohesiveness and dynamism in the late 1960s and 1970s, it became complementary to national economic progress and increasingly involved in international economic and political questions.     

The importance of nest‐site and habitat in egg recognition ability of potential hosts of the Common Cuckoo Cuculus canorus

The intensity of selection exerted by brood parasites on their hosts depends on the proportion of nests that are parasitized and the fitness costs of parasitism. Nest detection by brood parasites influences the probability of parasitism, and we propose that the difficulty faced by brood parasites of finding nests on the ground may make ground‐nesting species subject to lower levels of parasitism, causing a reduction in levels of defence compared with species breeding in shrubs, trees and elsewhere above the ground. We tested the prediction that the rejection rate of Common Cuckoo Cuculus canorus eggs by hosts is inversely related to the frequency with which they build nests on the ground, both at local and at continental scales. First, we used estimates of the rejection rate of non‐mimetic model eggs experimentally introduced into the nests of 26 potential host species breeding in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of southern Spain. Most species tested in the Sierra Nevada showed high rejection rates of both mimetic and non‐mimetic eggs, whereas the European Robin Erithacus rubecula, with a low rejection rate, was the only species that was regularly parasitized. At the continental scale we used all available published information on rejection rates of non‐mimetic models by European hosts of the Common Cuckoo. The frequency of ground‐nesting explained interspecific variation in rejection rate of non‐mimetic model eggs both for the species tested in the Sierra Nevada and for all European hosts after controlling for all other life‐history variables known to affect rejection rates. An effect of the abundance of trees in a particular habitat, previously shown to affect parasitism by the Common Cuckoo, was only apparent from analyses of continental‐scale data and not from the Sierra Nevada mountains, suggesting that particular properties of mountainous areas affect Common Cuckoo parasitism. Ground‐nesting species showed lower rejection rates than species breeding in bushes or trees. These results suggest that species nesting on the ground may have suffered lower parasitism pressures in their historical coevolutionary interactions with the Common Cuckoo.     

Book review

The Fisheries Regime of the Exclusive Economic Zone by M. Dahmani (Mar‐tinus Nijhoff Publishers, Dordrecht, Boston, Lancaster, 1987). Pages XII, 188. $71.50

EEC Fisheries Law by R.R. Churchill (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Dordrecht, Boston, Lancaster, 1987, pp. XXVII‐299) $80.     

The Delimitation Method for the Continental Shelf Beyond 200 Nautical Miles: A Reflection on the Judicial and Arbitral Decisions

Abstract

This article examines the practice of the international judicial and arbitral tribunals thus far in delimiting the continental shelf beyond 200?nm, and indicates the trend reflected in the decisions. However, the article disagrees with the critical observation of the tribunals that the delimitation method for the continental shelf beyond 200?nm should follow that within 200?nm. The delimitation of the continental shelf beyond 200?nm is essentially different from the single maritime delimitation within 200?nm, and various methods may be employed in order to achieve an equitable result in a particular case.     

French marine policy in the 1970s and 1980s

Abstract

France, hitherto more “continental”; than “maritime,”; increasingly developed its ocean activities in the 1970s and 1980s. This article describes the different sectors of its marine activities and evolvement of a different outlook concerning the sea. Important events such as the 1976 Proclamation and subsequent implementation of the French 200‐nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone, and 1981 formation of a new Socialist government in France after 23 years of uninterrupted “Gaullist”; rule, offered a unique opportunity to restructure marine policy. The new Ministry of the Sea was intended to integrate marine policy and cater to a developing ocean “constituency.”; It was eventually downgraded to a “Secrétariat d'Etat,”; but its impact was undeniably important.     

The 1987 law of yugoslavia on the coastal sea and the continental shelf

Abstract

This article analyzes the recent Yugoslav legislation on the regime of internal waters, the territorial sea, and the continental shelf which was initiated by the ratification of the Law of the Sea (LOS) Convention on behalf of Yugoslavia on November 27, 1985. The highlights of the 1987 law are the clauses strengthening the national security interests in the internal waters of Yugoslavia, the repair of foreign ships in domestic shipyards, the introduction of the system of prior notification of foreign warships entering the territorial waters, and the extension on the continental shelf of sovereign rights over archeological and historical objects. It is maintained that the law has failed to incorporate the novelties of the LOS Convention such as the proclamation of the Yugoslav exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the Adriatic Sea and the reestablishment of its contiguous zone.     

Deciphering the Nnorth Korean‐Soviet (Russian) maritime boundary agreements

Abstract

North Korea and the Soviet Union delimited their land and sea boundaries in two treaties, signed in 1985 and 1986. A warming bilateral relationship, joint plans to develop an economic zone near the Tumen River land boundary, and the desire to exploit marine resources, especially offshore oil, probably accelerated the negotiations. The two countries’ straight baseline claims affected the bearing of the negotiated boundaries. The territorial sea boundary may have given half‐effect to the natural coastline, and inexplicably, its terminus falls short of extending a full 12 nautical miles from the respective straight baseline claims. The 1986 continental shelf/exclusive economic zone boundary reflects the baselines and appears to delimit the South Korea—Soviet Union continental shelf, as well as the tri‐point with Japan. It ignores the presence of Liancourt Rocks (Takeshima/Tok‐do), islets disputed between Japan and South Korea. Neither South Korea nor Japan has publicly commented on the treaties.     

Canada and the law of the sea

Abstract

This paper gives a compact overview of Canadian policy on the law of the sea. Section I looks at Canada's maritime attributes, and the policy interests which arise from them. Section II describes the development of Canada's policy in ten issue areas, and examines the outcomes for Canadian diplomacy at UN‐CLOS. Section III covers the strategy and technique used by Canada in pursuit of its law of the sea objectives, and explores five reasons underlying its high level of influence and success. The conclusions consider Canada as a case study of middle‐power influence, and look at the role of unilateral action in the process of international law‐making.     

Creeping jurisdiction beyond 200 miles in the light of the 1982 law of the sea convention and state practice

Abstract

This article attempts a complex examination of problems pertaining to actual and potential extensions of coastal state rights and jurisdiction beyond the limit of 200 miles in the light of 1982 Law of the Sea Convention and state practice. Extension of the continental shelf regime, in the context of its outer limit beyond 200 miles, the entitlement of rocks to this limit, and the scope of coastal state rights and duties, is analyzed first. It is followed by discussion of the extension of the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) or fishery zone regime, which involves extension of certain coastal state fishery rights on the one hand, and the right of intervention in cases of maritime casualties and the liability regime for oil pollution damage on the other hand. Attention is also paid to presently speculative extensions of both regimes as a consequence of sea level rise. The author concludes that, if a continuing nontreaty situation deprives recourse to compulsory dispute settlement, the worst‐case scenario of spatial extension of the entire EEZ regime to the outer edge of the continental margin could not with certainty be excluded.     

Demersal fish diversity of the isolated Rockall plateau compared with the adjacent west coast shelf of Scotland

This study compares the diversity of the demersal fish assemblage of an isolated shelf sea, the Rockall plateau, with that of the nearest adjacent continental shelf sea ecosystem, the west coast of Scotland. Bottom trawl surveys were carried out between 1986 and 2008 on the Rockall plateau and the adjacent shelf sea to the west of Scotland. All demersal fish were identified and counted. Analyses of species richness and abundance were undertaken. The fish assemblage of the Rockall plateau was less diverse and the proportional representation of species was markedly different. A number of species common at Rockall were rare on the west coast shelf and, in general, there were fewer common and temporally stable species and more rare and ephemeral species at Rockall. Some species absent from Rockall have life‐history stages associated with inshore habitat. The Rockall plateau fish assemblage can be described as an impoverished subset of the north‐west European shelf sea fish assemblage. It is likely that there are constraints on diversity imposed by the relatively small area of the Rockall plateau and its degree of isolation by depth, distance and ocean currents. © 2011 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2011, 104 , 138–147.     

Warming shelf seas drive the subtropicalization of European pelagic fish communities

Pelagic fishes are among the most ecologically and economically important fish species in European seas. In principle, these pelagic fishes have potential to demonstrate rapid abundance and distribution shifts in response to climatic variability due to their high adult motility, planktonic larval stages, and low dependence on benthic habitat for food or shelter during their life histories. Here, we provide evidence of substantial climate‐driven changes to the structure of pelagic fish communities in European shelf seas. We investigated the patterns of species‐level change using catch records from 57 870 fisheries‐independent survey trawls from across European continental shelf region between 1965 and 2012. We analysed changes in the distribution and rate of occurrence of the six most common species, and observed a strong subtropicalization of the North Sea and Baltic Sea assemblages. These areas have shifted away from cold‐water assemblages typically characterized by Atlantic herring and European sprat from the 1960s to 1980s, to warmer‐water assemblages including Atlantic mackerel, Atlantic horse mackerel, European pilchard and European anchovy from the 1990s onwards. We next investigated if warming sea temperatures have forced these changes using temporally comprehensive data from the North Sea region. Our models indicated the primary driver of change in these species has been sea surface temperatures in all cases. Together, these analyses highlight how individual species responses have combined to result in a dramatic subtropicalization of the pelagic fish assemblage of the European continental shelf.     

The role of continental shelf width in determining freshwater phylogeographic patterns in south‐eastern Australian pygmy perches (Teleostei: Percichthyidae)

Biogeographic patterns displayed by obligate freshwater organisms are intimately related to the nature and extent of connectivity between suitable habitats. Two of the more significant barriers to freshwater connections are seawater and major drainage divides. South‐eastern Australia provides a contrast between these barriers as it has discrete areas that are likely influenced to a greater or lesser extent by each barrier type. We use continental shelf width as a proxy for the potential degree of river coalescence during low sea levels. Our specific hypothesis is that the degree of phylogeographic divergence between coastal river basins should correspond to the continental shelf width of each region. This predicts that genetic divergences between river basins should be lowest in regions with a wider continental shelf and that regions with similar continental shelf width should have similar genetic divergences. Pygmy perches (Nannoperca australis and Nannoperca ‘flindersi’) in south‐eastern Australia provide an ideal opportunity to test these biogeographic hypotheses. Phylogeographic patterns were examined based on range‐wide sampling of 82 populations for cytochrome b and 23 polymorphic allozyme loci. Our results recovered only limited support for our continental shelf width hypothesis, although patterns within Bass clade were largely congruent with reconstructed low sea‐level drainage patterns. In addition, we identified several instances of drainage divide crossings, typically associated with low elevational differences. Our results demonstrate high levels of genetic heterogeneity with important conservation implications, especially for declining populations in the Murray–Darling Basin and a highly restricted disjunct population in Ansons River, Tasmania.     

Brazil at the third United Nations conference on the law of the sea

Abstract

As Brazil began to emerge as a major power in the years leading up to theThird United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS III), national ocean policy came to have a quite continuous, distinctive impact on global law of the sea negotiations. Brazil's participation at UNCLOS III offers a particularly good vantage point from which to analyze its more prominent international role as an emerging major power, its related growth as a maritime power, and its significant contribution to international organization.

UNCLOS III, in turn, affects Brazil. The broad implications of the emerging ocean order for both national and international jurisdiction issues, within which Brazilian ocean policy must operate, are analyzed. Brazil's distinctive position as an emerging power between the industrialized countries and the Third World has conditioned its involvement at UNCLOS III. As a developing state, Brazil has favored revision of the traditional order for the purpose of redressing the balance with the developed states. At the same time, as an emerging power, Brazil has an interest in supporting a stable, open international order. In spite of such policy dilemmas, Brazil stands out as one of the few big potential winners in the Third World from both the seabed and non‐seabed portions of the law of the sea negotiations.     

Sea Control by Other Means: Norwegian Coast Guard Operations Under International Maritime Law

Abstract

This article examines the development and peacetime activities of the Norwegian Coast Guard through the lens of sea control. It argues that the creation of economic and fisheries protection zones has dramatically shaped the extent to which a smaller naval power, like Norway, has had to increase its ability to monitor and control maritime space. Although the maritime means and ends vary widely between peacetime and wartime contexts, the fundamentally contested aspect of sea use can still be discerned in the influence of international maritime law on Norwegian seapower.     

Indices of national interest in the oceans

Abstract

Each of the 148 independent States of the world has a particular set of interests in the oceans; these interests are reflected in policies regarding the international law of the sea. By analyzing the nature of national marine interests it is possible both to develop a generalized model which can be applied to any one of the world's countries, and to divide States into groupings, depending on their physical, economic, historic or other characteristics with respect to the marine environment. The four basic components of the national marine interest are accessibility, investment, dependence and control. These components are important to an understanding of the positions of the 30 land‐locked, 20 shelf‐locked and 98 other countries in current and upcoming law of the sea negotiations.