Midterm for Ocean Governance

What happened dec 10,1982 in Montego Bay and who was the conference prez and what does he say

 119 countries sign the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) on the first day, a record in legal history. The conference president, Tommy Koh of Singapore “A comprehensive constitution for the oceans which will stand the test of time.”

What the UNCLOS  Does, According to Koh

• Replaces conflicting claims with agreed limits and different zones.

• Protects navigation through innocent passage, transit passage, and archipelagic sea lanes.

• Conserves and allocates living resources through the exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

• Establishes new rules on marine pollution and marine scientific research.

• Provides mandatory dispute settlement.

• Defines the deep seabed as “the common heritage of mankind.”

What is the problem with the senakus whats up with them?

• Eight uninhabited rocks.

• The largest is two square miles.

• Located 120 miles northeast of Taiwan.

What Is the Fight About?

• Japan claims the islands were terra nullius in 1895; China calls them the Diaoyu and says they have always been Chinese.

• Beijing’s interest sharpens after a 1968–69 report of possible oil and gas.

• Japan introduced goats on one island in 1978.

• Tensions persist between the Japanese and Chinese Coast Guards as China seeks to expand its presence around the islands through its Coast Guard and large fishing fleet.

• apan and China care because controlling land can give a state rights over the surrounding sea, the principle that “land dominates the sea.” Each maritime zone offers different benefits:

  • Territorial sea: up to 12 nautical miles. The state has sovereignty over the water, seabed, and airspace. This lets it regulate activities and enforce its laws near the islands, strengthening security and control. Foreign ships still have a right of innocent passage.

  • Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ): up to 200 nautical miles. The state has exclusive rights to explore, exploit, conserve, and manage natural resources, especially fish, oil, and gas. Fishing provides food and income, while oil and gas provide energy and potential revenue. An EEZ gives resource rights, rather than full sovereignty: other states retain navigation and overflight freedoms.

  • Continental shelf: seabed and subsoil rights. The state can control extraction of oil, gas, and minerals beneath the seabed. This makes the report of possible oil and gas especially relevant. These rights concern the seabed, rather than fishing in the water above it.

  Control also gives either country a stronger strategic presence in the East China Sea through patrols and surveillance.

  
  

why The way we have governed oceans has been an extension of great-power politics.

bc powerful states hsape ocean rules to serve their own economic and strategic interests

pre 1700s oceans

• Before the modern period, oceans were vast, poorly known, and lightly governed.

• Sovereign power rarely extended far from shore.

• Knowledge, navigation, and trade slowly transformed the seas into a connected global space.

• Early societies could sometimes control nearby waters, or “narrow seas.”

• Claims were fragmentary, local, and often temporary.

• The Atlantic and Pacific were largely unknown to Mediterranean and Asian societies.

• Examples included:

  • Athens in the Aegean.

  • Venice in the Adriatic.

  • Rome in the Mediterranean: mare nostrum, with the Mediterranean becoming a Roman lake.

 What prevented states from controlling the oceans before the modern era?

• Travel by sea was dangerous and uncertain; storms and navigation limits dominated.

• Ships moved coast-to-coast, not ocean-to-ocean.

• State authority appeared only at ports through customs, taxation, and policing.

• Oceans were not yet imagined as a single, integrated planetary system.Early societies could sometimes control nearby waters, or “narrow seas.”

• Claims were fragmentary, local, and often temporary.

• The Atlantic and Pacific were largely unknown to Mediterranean and Asian societies.

• Examples included:

  • Athens in the Aegean.

  • Venice in the Adriatic.

  • Rome in the Mediterranean: mare nostrum, with the Mediterranean becoming a Roman lake.

Why Was Sovereignty at Sea Limited?

• Naval technology was weak; ships could not project power far or for long.

• Fishing was local rather than industrial, so there was no economic motive for oceanic exclusion.

• No shared international legal order existed to formalize maritime claims.

• Sovereigns were marginal; merchants and mariners set norms.

• Laws were limited to shipboard discipline and commercial dispute resolution, such as Rhodian sea law or the Rolls of Oléron.

pre 1700s oceans

Piracy, Violence, and Maritime Power

• Violence at sea was a constant feature, including raiding, hostage-taking, and slave capture.

• Private violence blurred with state interests through privateering and sanctioned raiding: violence that states sanctioned or acquiesced in.

• Protecting trade created an incentive to curb piracy and establish maritime order.

what was the first major justification of ocean governance

piracry

what was the iberian movement about?

The Iberian Moment: 15th–16th Centuries

• Portugal and Spain sought monopolies over new ocean routes.

• Their combined navigational circuits created one oceanic system.

• They combined navigation, conquest, and trade powers.

• Oceans were imagined as extensions of territorial empire.

• The 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas divided the Atlantic world between Spain and Portugal.

• The 1529 Treaty of Zaragoza extended the division to Asia.

• These agreements treated the sea as partitionable space.

mare clausum

Closed-Sea Doctrine: Mare Clausum

• Under Iberian practice, key routes and trading zones were considered closed to others.

• Portugal restricted access to Indian Ocean spice routes.

• Spain restricted American Pacific trade.

• They used forts, naval patrols, licenses, and seizures to enforce this doctrine.

• Value was tied to exclusive control over spices, metals, slaves, and trade monopolies.

• The ocean was seen as part of imperial statecraft, not neutral space.

how did the dutch and english challenge the spanish and portugese

• Rising Dutch and English trading companies entered the Indian Ocean in the late 16th century.

• Iberian claims were viewed as barriers to commerce.

• The Dutch East India Company (VOC) became the largest trading corporation.

• Conflict at sea set the stage for a legal and ideological clash over who “owns” the ocean.

tell me about grotius and his case for the free sea

Grotius and the Case for the Free Sea: Mare Liberum

• Early 17th-century jurist Hugo Grotius articulated his argument in Mare Liberum (1609).

• Oceans are fluid and cannot be occupied like land.

• The ocean is, by nature, a pathway between societies.

• Resources were viewed as abundant and non-excludable, with no need to divide them up.

• High seas must remain open to navigation, commerce, and fishing.

• The theory advanced the Dutch commercial agenda against Iberian monopoly.

Mare Clausum vs. Mare Liberum

Mare clausum: Closed sea

• Supported Iberian monopoly claims.

• Emphasized sovereign or chartered control of routes.

• Supported by:

  • John Selden, British: God gave humanity dominion over land and sea.

  • William Welwod, Scottish: Resources, such as fish, are not inexhaustible.

Mare liberum:free sea?

• Promoted by Grotius.

• Advanced by the Dutch and later the British.

• Became the intellectual foundation for modern “freedom of the seas.”

• 1609 book on international law by Dutch jurist Hugo Grotius that established the principle that the open oceans are international territory shared by all nations rather than owned by any single stat

Why Was Grotius Revolutionary?

• He reframed oceans as legal space rather than imperial spoils.

• He argued from natural law rather than scripture, so his case worked across Europe’s religious divides.

• He enabled the Dutch and English to challenge Iberian dominance without open war.

• He introduced the idea that ocean governance requires principles, not just power.

his idea resonated with the us

What is the ocean governance regime?

• The rules, norms, principles, and decision-making procedures for managing ocean uses and users.

components of the ocean governance regime

• Customary law (unwritten international obligations arising from established international practice, e.g., flagging vessels, freedom of the seas)

• Treaties (UNCLOS, MARPOL, London Protocol)

• Organizations (IMO, IWC)

• Users (states, firms, NGOs, scientists)

what are the two competing ideas of the law of the sea

• Territorialization = coasts control by (adjacent) seas – akin to mare clausum

• Freedom of the seas = oceans are open commons (to be used by everyone) – akin to mare liberum

• Today’s regime = a compromise between these two.

functions of unclos

• Divides ocean space into legal zones

• Establishes rights and duties

• Creates dispute mechanisms

• Coordinates with other organizations

• Serves as an umbrella (constitutional metaphor) – Constitution of the oceans, according to Tommy Koh of Singapore (President of UNCLOS III conference).

dates of unclos introduction

• centerpiece treaty negotiated 1973–82; enters in force 1994.

explain jurisdictional zones

• are specific areas of the sea where coastal nations exercise varying degrees of sovereignty, legal authority, and economic rights under international law, primarily governed by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

• 0–12 nautical miles: Territorial Sea (extension of coastal state sovereignty – except innocent passage – transit passage from international straits)

• 0–24 nautical miles: Contiguous Zone (limited enforcement authority for punishing customs, fiscal, immigration, or sanitary laws)

• 0–200 nautical miles: Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) (exclusive control over resources, not full control)

• Beyond: High Seas (Area Beyond National Jurisdiction) (all states have navigational, economic and scientific activities).

• Rule of thumb: closer to the coast = more coastal control.

• Coastal states can regulate, manage, or restrict activities related to:

• fishing and other living resources

• offshore energy (oil, gas, wind)

• seabed minerals

• marine scientific research (with consent rules)

• environmental protection and pollution controls

• installation and use of artificial islands, platforms, or infrastructure → In short: resource use, research, and environmental impacts.

• what can they NOT restrict in the EEZ?

• Coastal states cannot impede:

  • freedom of navigation

  • freedom of overflight

  • laying and maintenance of submarine cables and pipelines

  • other lawful uses of the sea associated with these freedoms

• → These remain high-seas freedoms for other states (subject to certain duties).

what are the two categories of the ocean floor

1. Continental shelf: The coastal state has exclusive rights to resources on and beneath the seabed, such as oil, gas, and minerals, generally out to 200 nautical miles from its baseline. If its continental margin extends farther, it may qualify for an extended continental shelf, subject to UNCLOS limits.

This means the state controls seabed resource extraction; it does not automatically control the water above it.

2. The Area: This is the seabed beyond national jurisdiction, where no country can claim sovereignty. Its resources are the “common heritage of humankind,” meaning they are meant to benefit humanity collectively. The International Seabed Authority (ISA) regulates mineral exploration and exploitation there.

• UNCLOS created three crucial bodies:

• Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS): Technical committee of scientists who review extended shelf claims (beyond 200 nm)

• International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS): Dispute settlement for law of the sea issues + the Seabed Disputes Chamber

• International Seabed Authority (ISA): Manages seabed mining in the Area (in light of common heritage of humankind principle)

• 1994 Implementing Agreement on Part XI

• Focus: deep seabed mining in the Area

• Adjusted provisions on technology transfer + benefit sharing (no obligation for rich states to deliver these to developing states)

• Made terms more acceptable to industrialized states

• Helped unlock broader ratification and entry into force (before this 58 out of 60 signatories were developing nations

• 1995 Fish Stocks Agreement

• Clarified and strengthened fisheries management obligations, especially for migratory species

International Whaling Commission (IWC)

• Works in parallel with UNCLOS-based institutions and manages whaling since 1946

• Initially failed to protect the whale population

  • Quotas were hard to set and regulate, partly due to not enough data

• Created moratorium on commercial whaling in 1986 (exists till today) – with the US support!

• BUT Interesting governance twist:

  • Anti-whaling states joined and shifted voting majorities

  • Scientific exemptions became political battlegrounds (see the Whaling in the Antarctic case)

  • BUT Who gets to decide whether whale killing is scientific, cultural, commercial, or ecological?

International Maritime Organization (IMO)

• International Maritime Organization (IMO): UN specialized agency for shipping safety, environmental rules, vessel standards; created in 1958; has 176 member states.

why does imo matter

• Shapes how ships behave

• Requires flag registration

• Handles routing, emissions, safety, codes

flags of convinence (focs)

• The practice of registering vessels in a state different from the owner’s nationality.

• Registration states allow foreign-owned ships to fly their flag and operate under their jurisdiction. Why do they allow this?

• Often chosen for lower taxes, cheaper fees, and lighter regulatory enforcement.

what countries commonly serve as flags of convienence

panama, liberia, marshall islands, bahamas, malta

Why do FOCs matter? What problems do they pose?

• Compliance (especially on high seas) hinges on flag-state enforcement; weak registries weaken enforcement.

• Creates regulatory gaps in labor standards, safety, and pollution controls.

• Incentivizes a competitive race for lax rules among open registries.

• Makes monitoring of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing harder.

• The IMO system relies on flag states to enforce rules at sea.

• When ships choose convenience flags, the entire governance chain can break.

Article 92 (Status of ships)

1. Ships shall sail under the flag of one State only and.… shall be subject to its exclusive jurisdiction on the high seas. A ship may not change its flag during a voyage or while in a port of call, save in the case of a real transfer of ownership or change of registry.

2. A ship which sails under the flags of two or more States, using them according to convenience, may not claim any of the nationalities in question with respect to any other State, and may be assimilated to a ship without nationality.

Article 110

1. A warship which encounters on the high seas a foreign ship… is not justified in boarding it unless there is reasonable ground for suspecting that:

   • (a) the ship is engaged in piracy;

   • (b) the ship is engaged in the slave trade;

   • (c) unauthorized broadcasting;

   • (d) the ship is without nationality;

   • (e) refusing to show its flag or flying a foreign flag while actually sharing the same nationality as the warship

   • BUT not for enforcement of narcotics or drugs, terrorism, migrant and arms smuggling

Pollution regime pieces (under IMO)

• The right to pollute used to be part of the freedom of the high seas!

• Two major treaties that changed behavior in the 1970s:

  • The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) = ship pollution prevention (operational + accidental)

  • Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter 1972 (London Convention/Protocol) = prevents all dumping unless it is permitted in a formal list

  • But… Most pollution comes from land sources (approx 70%) — not well governed internationally

Regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs)

• What they do:

  • Manage fish either by region or species

  • Collect data, set quotas, monitor fleets

Why do rfmos struggle

• Non-members free-ride

• Enforcement gaps

• Species migrate across jurisdictions

why is the ocean gov system so difficult to update when new problems arise

• Three reasons:

  • High sunk costs and path dependence

  • Overlapping jurisdictions and mandates

  • Climate change moves faster than institutions and we are not good at adapting

what is the mainn argument and claim of the palau island state and enforcement gap

• Setting: Palau (Pacific Island state) with an EEZ the size of France

• Problem: Illegal fishing + shark finning + limited enforcement capacity; but also labor violations and slavery on fishing boats

• Resources available:

  • One patrol boat (“Remeliik”)

  • 18 police officers for entire EEZ

  • Collaboration with NGOs + tech actors + foreign government agents (SkyTruth in West Virginia, the U.S Coast Guard etc.)

• What is the main argument/claim of this piece?The main claim is that having laws and jurisdiction over the ocean does not mean a state has the ability to enforce them.

  Palau has rights over fishing in its enormous EEZ, but one patrol boat and 18 officers cannot effectively monitor it. That gap allows illegal fishing and abuses aboard fishing vessels to persist, making outside assistance important. Sovereignty vs. capacity: Small coastal states have rights over EEZ resources but lack means to defend them.

  
  

main takeaways fro palau chapter

• Market incentives: Global demand for shark fins and tuna makes illegal fishing profitable. If fishers expect little chance of being caught, they have an incentive to keep doing it.

• Technological asymmetry: Industrial fishing fleets can travel farther, store catches longer, and evade small patrol forces. Palau’s authorities struggle to monitor or catch them.

• Regulation does NOT mean enforcement: UNCLOS gives Palau rights over resources in its EEZ, but those rights do not provide the boats, personnel, or money needed to enforce fishing rules.

• Multi-actor governance: Because the state cannot do everything itself, NGOs, technology analysts, foreign governments, and private contractors help with monitoring and policing.