PROGRAM: INTEGRATED COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT

MODULE 3, UNIT 3.1

ASSIGNMENT 1
1. With 5 examples, discuss in details the pros and cons of the UN Convention on the Law
of the Sea.

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), also called the Law of the
Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea treaty, is an international agreement that resulted from the
third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS III), which took place
between 1973 and 1982. The law came into force in 1994 and has been ratified by 158 countries.
The Law of the Sea Convention defines the rights and responsibilities of nations with respect to
their use of the world's oceans, establishing guidelines for businesses, the environment, and the
management of marine natural resources.
UNCLOS replaced the older and weaker freedom of the seas which limits a nation’s right to 3
nautical miles-‘the cannon shot rule’.
Some of the pros of the UNCLOS are discussed below:
1. It provides maritime security: This is achieved by the UNCLOS in several ways. For
example, in article 25, UNCLOS gives coastal states the right to take the necessary steps
in its territorial sea to prevent passage which is not innocent. It states that ‘in the case of
ships proceeding to internal waters or a call at a port facility outside internal waters, the
coastal State also has the right to take the necessary steps to prevent any breach of the
conditions to which admission of those ships to internal waters or such a call is subject.

The coastal States also have the right to suspend temporarily in specified areas of its
territorial sea the innocent passage of foreign ships if such suspension is essential for the
protection of its security, including weapons exercises. Such suspension shall take effect
only after having been duly published.

Another example of the UNCLOS providing maritime security is found in article 23. It
demands that foreign nuclear-powered ships and ships carrying nuclear or other
inherently dangerous or noxious substances should carry documents and observe special
precautionary measures established for such ships by international agreements, when
exercising the right of innocent passage through the territorial sea.

In addition, UNCLOS also sees to maritime security by placing laws against illegal
activities carried out in the sea such as slave trade (in article 99) and piracy (in article
100- 107). It obliges all states to cooperate in repressing such activities.
2. It has helped in the settlement of dispute among nations: One main pro of UNCLOS
is that it has helped to address the problem of conflicting interest in the use of the ocean
and its resources. One way it address this is by clearly delineating the different zones of
the sea/ocean as well as clearly stating the rights and responsibilities of states in these
zones.

Also in Article 279, states are obliged to settle dispute by peaceful means. UNCLOS also
provides the procedures for such peaceful settlement of dispute.

A good example of the application of UNCLOS in dispute settlement was the verdict
delivered by a United Nations tribunal regarding India and Bangladesh's maritime
boundaries in the Bay of Bengal in 2014. The tribunal awarded nearly four-fifth of the
25,000sq km of the exclusive economic zone to Bangladesh. This ended a 40-year-old
dispute between the two countries.

Another example was the settlement of the delimitation dispute between Ghana and Côte
d’Ivoire in 2017. In order to delimit their respective maritime areas and proceed with
hydrocarbon operations, both countries submitted their maritime dispute to a Special
Chamber of International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS). The Chamber
addressed a series of issues, including the existence or not of a tacit delimitation
agreement, the delimitation of the relevant maritime area both within and beyond 200M
and the alleged international responsibility of Ghana. The Chamber designated a
maritime boundary based on equidistance for the area both within and beyond 200M after
resolving that there was no tacit delimitation agreement.

3. It created a fair balance for all states including land-locked to access the coastal
resources: The UNCLOS made provisions for land-locked States as well as
geographically disadvantaged States (States bordering enclosed or semi-enclosed seas,
whose geographical situation makes them dependent upon the exploitation of the living
resources of the exclusive economic zones of other States) to participate, on an equitable
basis, in the exploitation of an appropriate part of the surplus of the living resources of
the exclusive economic zones of coastal States of the same sub-region or region, taking
into account the relevant economic and geographical circumstances of all the States
concerned and in conformity with the provisions of article 69/67 article and of articles 61
and 62. The terms and modalities of such participation are to be established by the States
concerned through bilateral, sub-regional or regional agreements taking into account,
inter alia.

Land-locked states also have the right of access to and from the sea. This enable them
enjoy freedom of transit to and from the sea through the territory of transit states by all
means of transport (article 125). Another important provision for land-locked states by is
article 128 which gives provisions for the creation of free zones.
 In addition, UNCLOS takes into account the interest and needs of developing countries in
the activities of the Area, stating that ‘the effective participation of developing States in
activities in the Area shall be promoted as specifically provided for in this Part, having
due regard to their special interests and needs,….’ (Article 148). This provision helps
prevent the restriction of the use of the Area to only developed and wealthy countries.

4. Protection of the marine environment: Another important pro of the UNCLOS is its
role in the protection of the marine environment. It addresses the issue of conservation
and over-exploitation of marine resources in the exclusive economic zone (article 61/62),
in the high seas (article 116-120), and in the Area (article 145). It states that ‘states shall
take measures which are designed, on the best scientific evidence available to the States
concerned, to maintain or restore populations of harvested species at levels which can
produce the maximum sustainable yield, as qualified by relevant environmental and
economic factors…’.

In addition, the convention also addresses issue of marine pollution including the release
of toxic, harmful or noxious substances from land-based sources, from the atmosphere
from dumping, pollution from vessels, pollution from installations and devices used in
exploration or exploitation of the natural resources of the seabed and subsoil, as well as
pollution from other installations and devices operating in the marine environment
(Article 194 and 195). It states that ‘States shall take, individually or jointly as
appropriate, all measures consistent with this Convention that are necessary to prevent,
reduce and control pollution of the marine environment from any source, using for this
purpose the best practicable means at their disposal and in accordance with their
capabilities…’ (Article 194).

5. The UNCLOS covers a broad range of issues which are related to the use of the world’s
seas/ocean unlike most other conventions which deal with just one issue, leaving the
others unaddressed.

Although UNCLOS has a number of pros, it also has some cons. Some of these are outlined
below.

1. The designation of the EEZ places some countries at more advantage than others:
The biggest beneficiaries of the introduction of EEZs are those countries with a huge
coastline (Russia, Australia) and big archipelago island states (Indonesia, Japan), but
above all the three premier colonial and imperialist powers of the 18th, 19th and early
20th centuries (UK, France and the US) which through force conquered huge landmasses
as well as scattered islands and long island chains establishing white settler regimes by
massacring at least 80% of the indigenous non-white population (Achin, 2020). The UK
and France continue to retain many island groups (Achin, 2020).

According to UNCLOS, uninhabited islands are also entitled to 200-mile EEZs. This has
made countries such as the US, France and the UK to possess overseas areas that exceed
 of their own landmasses and has placed the control of over 95% of the world’s fisheries
in hands of 87 coastal states through their claims of the EEZ which contains most of the
world’s fishes (Achin, 2020).
2. The establishment of the EEZ has encouraged the privatization of the sea at the cost
of protecting the environment: While in theory the conservation and optimum
utilization of resources may be reconcilable, in practice many countries may not make
conservation a priority (Achin, 2020).

3. There is no concrete law on the regulation use of the common heritage of mankind:
The high seas as a global commons presents particular problems of environmental
conservation because of its nature. While UNCLOS confers upon coastal states
prescriptive and enforcement rights in the EEZ, the authority to punish environmentally
irresponsible conduct on the high seas falls to the flag-state of each vessel. As the flag-
state, or state of nationality, has always had primary authority to regulate the activities on
board its vessels, the issue of “flags of convenience” remains a key problem. Flags of
convenience, or vessels registered with states that do not prescribe or enforce rigorous
fishing practices, sanitation, and pollution control standards, are very much a weakness of
the high sea regime.

4. The problems of straddling stocks and highly migratory species: The problem of
straddling stocks and highly migratory species are an inherent short-coming of UNCLOS.
A clear example of this occurred in 1995 when Canada arrested the Spanish fishing
vessel Estai slightly seaward of Canada’s EEZ. The Estai was fishing on the high seas for
turbot stocks that straddled Canadian waters. In Canadian waters they received
substantial management but in the high seas they obviously did not. Spain protested and
initiated legal proceedings against Canada in the International Court of Justice. This
made evident the delicate issue presented by straddling stocks in law and policy.
Straddling stocks are even more likely to occur where the area of the high seas is
completely surrounded by the EEZ of more than one state as in the case of the Bering
Sea’s “Donut Hole.”

As a result of the significance of the problem of straddling and migratory fish stocks, a
separate treaty was negotiated. The treaty is the “Agreement for the Implementation of
the Provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December
1982 relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly
Migratory Fish Stocks.” The “Straddling Stocks treaty” was adopted in 1995, and came
into force in December 11, 2001. It promised to address these issues with more
specificity than UNCLOS.

5. In many cases, there are no clear cut punishment for States who fall short of the
provisions of the UNCLOS: The convention lack criminal provisions that combat
environmental crimes and protect the marine environment. It does not contain any article
that explicitly states that the pollution of the marine environment is deemed a crime. It
 neither states an international penalty to be applied when an environmental crime is
committed nor obligate the States that do not ratify them to comply with their provisions.

From the foregoing, it can be seen that although the UNCLOS has helps in addressing many
issues that pertains to the use of the sea, in many cases, there are no clear cut punishment for
States who fall short. There is also the need to ensure equity especially in the use of the common
heritage of mankind e.g. in the exploitation of the mineral nodules.

REFERENCES
Achin Vanaik. The UNCLOS isn’t perfect and its time we acknowledge that. Transnational
Institute. 12 August 2020. Retrieved 24 March 2021.

Greenpeace International. In deep water: The emerging threat of deep sea mining. Deep Sea
Mining Report, June, 2019.
Howard S. Schiffman. International Law and the Protection of the Marine Environment.
UNESCO-Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS) –Sample Capters.
Nicholas A.I. (2017). A Commentary on the Dispute Concerning Delimitation of the Maritime
Boundary between Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire in the Atlantic Ocean (Ghana/Côte d’Ivoire).
Maritime Safety and Security Law Journal 3,48-61.
The Hindu. Banglasedsh wins maritime dispute with India. July, 2014.
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/bangladesh-wins-maritime-dispute-with-
india/article6191797.ece
PROGRAM: INTEGRATED COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT
MODULE 3, UNIT 3.1
ASSIGNMENT 2
1. Treaties are necessary evils. Discuss this statement with reference to three marine
treaties.

A treaty is an agreement between sovereign States (countries) and in some cases international
organizations, which is binding at international law. They provide a legal framework for action.
They allow states to unite and overcome common challenges by legal principles. Treaties often
develop out of informal agreements. They can be bilateral (between two States) or multilateral
(between three or more States). They can also be local, regional or global.
There are a number of marine treaties categorized as global treaties with marine relevance,
global marine treaties and regional treaties and agreements. Examples of global marine treaties
include the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the International
Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (IWC), the Convention for the Prevention of Marine
Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter (London Dumping Convention), International
Convention for the Prevention of Pollution of Ships (MARPOL), the International Convention
for the Control of Ballast Water, the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea etc.
Examples of regional marine treaties are the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Regional Seas Agreement and the Convention of Antarctic Marine Living Resources
(CCAMLR).

The International Community seeks to protect the marine environment from pollution, because
this environment is important to mankind and has a direct effect on them. The importance of the
marine environment to man cannot be over emphasized.

The marine environment plays an important role in nutrient cycling e.g. the water cycle. By
absorbing a huge amount of sun rays falling on the earth, a part of its waters evaporates into the
air and forms clouds. This produces rain which is the source of freshwater for other living
organisms on land.Countries that suffer from shortage of freshwater resources find desalination
of seawater is very useful (Ventikos, 2002).

The marine environment is also characterized by the absorption of carbon dioxide through
photosynthesis carried out by phytoplanktons, which exist in seawater in large numbers.
Phytoplanktons remove carbon dioxide from sea water and release oxygen as a by-product,
which other living organisms in the marine environment breathe. Given that the rate of carbon
dioxide on the earth has grown in a way that risks humans in particular and the environment in
general, authorities in most countries realized the importance of the marine environment and its
vital role in reducing the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (Alqadban, 2000).

The marine environment is also an important source of the food for humans and other living
organisms. One of the main services provided by the oceans to human societies is the
provisioning service of food from capture fisheries and culturing operations. This includes fish,
invertebrates, plants, and for some cultures, marine mammals and seabirds for direct
consumption or as feed for aquaculture or agriculture. These ocean-based sources of food have
large-scale benefits for human health and nutrition, economic returns, and employment.

Also, seas contain huge amounts of mineral resources, the quantity of which sometimes exceed
the amounts found on land, such as tin, which is found in the Thailand Sea and Malaysia,
sponge, and diamond (Botsford et al., 1997). The marine environment contains huge amounts of
oil and natural gas, which has played a major role in the economic prosperity of the world
(Almutairi, 2016).

In addition, the marine environment is a very vital means of transport in the world. Ships can
carry overseas what planes cannot carry (Almutairi, 2016).

The marine environment however presents unique challenges for protection strategies. These
include the fact that the marine environment including its resources are shared globally, the
absence of barriers to movement in the marine environment as well as the large geographical
area on which the consequences of pollution are felt.

With the vital role that the marine environment plays and the unique challenges it presents for
protection strategies, the need to establish marine treaties that govern the use of the marine
environment is therefore inevitable and as such, a necessary evil.

One of these marine treaty is the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from
Ships (MARPOL). MARPOL is the main international convention covering the prevention of
pollution of the marine environment by ships from operational or accidental causes. It was
adopted on 2 November 1973 at IMO. The Protocol of 1978 was adopted in response to a spate
of tanker accidents in 1976-1977. This Convention replaced the 1954 Convention. Its purpose is
to achieve the banning of the deliberate pollution of the marine environment by oil and other
harmful substances and to reduce their accidental disposal by ships.

It has 6 annexes which address pollution of various kinds including pollution by oil from
operational measures as well as from accidental discharges; pollution by noxious liquid
substances carried in bulk, pollution of the sea by sewage, pollution by garbage as well as
pollution by air pollutants such as sulphur oxide and nitrogen oxide emissions from ship
exhausts. It also contains general requirements for the issuing of detailed standards on packing,
marking, labelling, documentation, stowage, quantity limitations, exceptions and notifications.

Another example of a marine treaty is the 1972 London Convention on the Prevention of Marine
Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter. The Convention states that States have the
sovereign right to exploit their own resources pursuant to their own environmental policies and
the responsibility to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction or control do not cause damage
to the environment of other States or of areas beyond the limits of their national jurisdiction. It
also states contracting parties shall individually and collectively promote the effective control of
all sources of pollution of the marine environment and pledge themselves especially to take all
practicable steps to prevent the pollution of the sea by the dumping of waste and other matter
that is liable to create hazards to human health, to harm living resources and marine life, to
damage amenities or to interfere with other legitimate uses of the sea.

The Convention obliges the contracting parties to promote measures that protect the marine
environment against pollution caused by hydrocarbons, including oil and their wastes; other
noxious or hazardous matter transported by vessels for purposes other than dumping; wastes
generated in the course of the operation of vessels, aircraft, platforms and other man-made
structures at sea; radio-active pollutants from all sources, including vessels; agents of chemical
and biological warfare; and wastes or other matter directly arising from, or related to, the
exploration, exploitation and associated off-shore processing of sea-bed mineral resources.
Annex 1 (8) states that the prohibition of dumping does not apply to substances that are rapidly
rendered harmless by physical, chemical or biological processes in the sea, provided that they do
not make edible marine organisms unpalatable or endanger human health or that of domestic
animals. The Convention states that the prohibition of dumping does not apply to wastes or other
materials (e.g. sewage sludge and dredged material). However, this exception will adversely
affect the protection of the marine environment from pollution by dumping under this
Convention, because of the lack of a real standard or criterion to depend on when assessing the
exceptional cases. The States can interpret this exception in the way they desire and may use it to
justify their acts in ways that serve their interests and fulfill their wishes. The Convention should
have obligated the Contracting Parties to remove the effects of pollution arising out of such
exceptional cases to avoid making the marine environment vulnerable to such acts and
justifications.
Another important treaty is the International Convention for the Control and Management of
Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments (BMW). Invasive aquatic species present a major threat to
the marine ecosystems, and shipping was identified as a major pathway for introducing species
to new environments. The problem increased as trade and traffic volume expanded, and in
particular with the introduction of steel hulls, allowing vessels to use water instead of solid
materials as ballast. The effects of the introduction of new species have in many areas of the
world been devastating. The Ballast Water Management Convention, which was adopted in
2004, therefore aimed to prevent the spread of harmful aquatic organisms from one region to
another, by establishing standards and procedures for the management and control of ships'
ballast water and sediments. The convention entered into force globally on 8 September 2017.

Under the Convention, all ships in international traffic are required to manage their ballast water
and sediments to a certain standard, according to a ship-specific ballast water management plan.
All ships are also obliged to carry a ballast water record book and an international ballast water
management certificate. A number of guidelines were developed to facilitate the implementation
of the Convention. Standards for ballast water exchange were also set by this convention. Parties
to the Convention were given the option to take additional measures which are subject to criteria
set out in the Convention and to IMO guidelines.

The adoption and implementation of the above treaties play a key role in the sustainable use and
management of the marine environment. Their absence would do more harm than good and as
such they are necessary evils.

REFERENCES
Almutairi, Y. H. (2016). Protection of the Marine Environment under International Law and
Kuwaiti Criminal Law.

Alqadban, A.H. (2000). Environmental characteristics and marine pollution in the Gulf region.
P.50.

Botsford, L. W., Castilla, J. C., & Peterson, C. H. (1997). The management of fisheries and
marine ecosystems. Science, 277(5325), 509-515.

Stephenson, N.L. (1990). The Climatic Control of Vegetation Distribution: The role of Water.
The American Naturalist 135(5), 649-652.

Ventikos, N. P. (2002) Development of an Evaluation Model for the Importance, the Causes and
the Consequences of Oil Marine Pollution: the Case of Maritime Transport in the Greek Seas and
in the Gulf of Saronikos. National Technical University of Athens, Greece.