MANAGEMENT O F FISHERY RESOURCES
35
up international commissions with responsibility for somc particular
fishery or groups of fisheries on the high seas. These approaches are
closely related to the general questions of the law of the sea and to the
principles of conservation of natural resources.
Since the seventeenth century, when the development of seabornc
trade and the emergence of powerful maritime nations led to a shift
from the notion of closed seas claimed by a few countries to the concept
of open seas, the two basic principles of the law of the sea have been
that a strip of offshore waters should be under the exclusive sovereignty
of the coastal state and that the high seas beyond should be free. These
principles were originally intended to satisfy and reconcile reasons of
national security and the freedom of trade and navigation. But they
applied to all activities in both areas and accordingly defined the legal
framework within which fishing activities were carried on.
The exclusive fishing rights of coastal states off their own shores and
the freedom of fishing on the high seas are still the basic principles on
which international fisheries law rests ; efforts have, however, been
made recently to define more clearly the extent to which these rights
and this freedom may be exercised.
A. Territorial sea and fishing zones
The exact delimitation of the sea where a coastal state enjoys
exclusive fishing rights is of great importance, as it has a direct bearing
on the regulation of fisheries and in particular demarcates these waters
from the high seas where conservation and management problems are
clearly international in nature, though the movements and migrations
of many species of fish make such man-made limits often unrealistic.
Until recently the sea area where coastal states had exclusive
jurisdiction over fisheries was, in all cases, co-extensive with the territorial sea, i.e. the belt of sea immediately offshore where coastal states
exercise sovereignty to the same degree as over their own land territory.
The area claimed by any state as territorial sea, however, varied greatly
between individual states, claims of areas from 3 t o 12 nautical miles
being most common, though in exceptional cases claims covered a
much wider area.
The breadth of the territorial sea was considered by the United
Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea in 1958. Although the
Conference adopted a convention on the territorial sea, including rules
on the baseline for measuring its width, no agreement was reached on
the width itself (United Nations, 1958).
A second Conference was held in 1960 ; there again no agreement
was reached (United Nations, 1960). One proposal, which failed to be
35
up international commissions with responsibility for somc particular
fishery or groups of fisheries on the high seas. These approaches are
closely related to the general questions of the law of the sea and to the
principles of conservation of natural resources.
Since the seventeenth century, when the development of seabornc
trade and the emergence of powerful maritime nations led to a shift
from the notion of closed seas claimed by a few countries to the concept
of open seas, the two basic principles of the law of the sea have been
that a strip of offshore waters should be under the exclusive sovereignty
of the coastal state and that the high seas beyond should be free. These
principles were originally intended to satisfy and reconcile reasons of
national security and the freedom of trade and navigation. But they
applied to all activities in both areas and accordingly defined the legal
framework within which fishing activities were carried on.
The exclusive fishing rights of coastal states off their own shores and
the freedom of fishing on the high seas are still the basic principles on
which international fisheries law rests ; efforts have, however, been
made recently to define more clearly the extent to which these rights
and this freedom may be exercised.
A. Territorial sea and fishing zones
The exact delimitation of the sea where a coastal state enjoys
exclusive fishing rights is of great importance, as it has a direct bearing
on the regulation of fisheries and in particular demarcates these waters
from the high seas where conservation and management problems are
clearly international in nature, though the movements and migrations
of many species of fish make such man-made limits often unrealistic.
Until recently the sea area where coastal states had exclusive
jurisdiction over fisheries was, in all cases, co-extensive with the territorial sea, i.e. the belt of sea immediately offshore where coastal states
exercise sovereignty to the same degree as over their own land territory.
The area claimed by any state as territorial sea, however, varied greatly
between individual states, claims of areas from 3 t o 12 nautical miles
being most common, though in exceptional cases claims covered a
much wider area.
The breadth of the territorial sea was considered by the United
Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea in 1958. Although the
Conference adopted a convention on the territorial sea, including rules
on the baseline for measuring its width, no agreement was reached on
the width itself (United Nations, 1958).
A second Conference was held in 1960 ; there again no agreement
was reached (United Nations, 1960). One proposal, which failed to be