Exclusive economic zones
Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) are maritime areas established under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, allowing coastal states exclusive rights to the resources within these zones, which extend up to 200 nautical miles from a baseline along their coast. This framework was created to balance the traditional freedom of the high seas with the need for coastal nations to manage and protect their natural resources. In the EEZ, a state holds sovereign economic rights over both living resources, like fish, and nonliving resources, such as oil and gas, enabling them to exploit and manage these resources effectively.
The concept emerged from historical tensions regarding maritime rights, particularly following the Truman Proclamation of 1945, which initiated a shift towards national jurisdiction over adjacent ocean areas. The establishment of EEZs seeks to prevent conflicts over resource claims and ensure equitable access to ocean resources, allowing other states to engage in fishing or other activities not restricted by the coastal nation. Disputes related to EEZ boundaries and resource use are to be resolved fairly, with provisions for international arbitration when necessary. This legal framework promotes sustainable resource management while respecting the interests of both coastal states and the international community.
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Exclusive economic zones
- DATE: December 10, 1982
Although the concept of a conservation zone off national coasts was not new, the exclusive economic zone (EEZ), created by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, was a legal and political achievement because it was the result of a consensus by all the world’s states.
Background
Part V of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of December 10, 1982, established the exclusive economic zone of a coastal state as “an area beyond and adjacent to the territorial sea” which is under the jurisdiction of the coastal state for specific purposes. The convention, the work of more than fourteen years of negotiation, is a comprehensive legal document that created an ordered system for the use of ocean space and for the protection of the natural resources of the oceans.
According to customary use of the seas, the area beyond the territorial waters of a state had been considered “high seas,” open to use by all and under no nation’s jurisdiction. The territorial waters had been generally accepted as extending 4.8 kilometers from the coast into the sea. Then, in the Truman Proclamation of September 28, 1945, the United States claimed the right to extend its jurisdiction over “conservation zones” in the high seas contiguous to the U.S. coast. Other countries followed, establishing their own zones and extending their economic jurisdiction into the high seas. Many maritime nations feared that the tradition of open seas and free navigation would end. Thus, in 1967 the United Nations General Assembly established an ad hoc committee to begin studying peaceful uses of the seas in preparation for convening the Third United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Provisions
A dispute over coastal rights and claims versus the freedom of all to use the seas erupted at the first session of the conference in Caracas, Venezuela. The creation of an economic zone of protection for a coastal state’s offshore resources was one of the first agreements negotiated at the conference. The EEZ part of the convention was put together as a smaller part within the overall package, which was a carefully negotiated compromise document. The EEZ extends up to 200 nautical miles from a baseline drawn along the low-water line of a coast.
Impact on Resource Use
Within that zone the coastal state acquires sovereign economic rights over living and nonliving resources for the purpose of exploitation, conservation, and resource management, including the right to establish the allowable catch of living resources. All other states retain their rights under the freedom of the seas concept and retain access to the EEZ for the purpose of exploiting those resources that the coastal state does not use.
Should disagreements arise with respect to the EEZ area, the convention calls for them to be settled on the basis of equity, and in the interests of all parties and of the international community as a whole. An international tribunal is provided for the settlement of disputes that may arise regarding the use of ocean space and EEZ resources.
Murr, Rita El. "Interim Solutions Under the Exclusive Economic Zone Regime: New Analysis and Prospects." Maritime Affairs, 26 June 2022, doi.org/10.1080/09733159.2022.2091974. Accessed 23 Dec. 2024.
Serita, Kentaro. "Territorial Sea and Exclusive Economic Zone." The Territory of Japan, 19 July 2023, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-3013-5‗5. Accessed 23 Dec. 2024.
"What Is the EEZ?" NOAA, 16 June 2024, oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/eez.html. Accessed 23 Dec. 2024.