passage, none other than the Strait of Gibraltar, and is surrounded by three States,
i.e., Spain, Algeria and Morocco.
2.3.2 States and Their Maritime Jurisdictions
Now, it must be stated that in addition to fully or partially concerning the coastlines
of three States, the Alboran Sea is also bordered on by the colony of a fourth State.
Although it encompasses the entire Mediterranean seaboard of Morocco and
much of that of Spain, it only covers a small part of the Algerian coast. Meanwhile,
the eastern coast of the colony of Gibraltar descends into the Alboran Sea. It should
be pointed out that the western end of the Mediterranean, like the eastern end, is an
area where almost all the international legislation governing the sea and its inherent
activities is applied, including that established in the regional framework and the
national legislation of the Mediterranean States, as well as that of the autonomous
community of Andalusia.
Regarding UNCLOS, both Morocco and Algeria signed the convention on 10th
December 1982 and ratified it on 31st May, 2007 and 11th June, 1996, respectively.
Spain signed the convention on 4th December 1984 and ratified it on 15th January
1997. The United Kingdom endorsed the convention on 25th July 1997, and
expressly extended it to include Gibraltar.
2.3.2.1 Moroccan Legislation
With regard to the national maritime legislation of these actor in the Alboran Sea, in
1973 Morocco passed Act 1.73.211 (which will be amended and supplemented by
draft legislation 37-17). This sets the limits of the country’s territorial sea at 12 nm
and an exclusive Moroccan fishing zone at 70 nm from the baselines. Article 2 of the
mentioned Moroccan legislation adopts the equidistance method (Gutiérrez Castillo
2009) to delimit its territorial sea from its opposing and adjoining neighbours. Two
years and 4 months elapsed before a decree was passed (which will be amended and
supplemented by draft decree 2-17-349) that determined the basic closing lines on
the coast and the geographical coordinates of the limits of the territorial waters and
the Moroccan exclusive fishing zone that later became an Exclusive Economic Zone
(EEZ). The EEZ was extended to 200 nm by Act 1-81 (which will be amended and
supplemented by draft legislation 38-17), which also created the Contiguous Zone
(CZ) adjacent to the territorial sea, the width of which is 24 nm as the sea’s breadth
does not allow the EEZ to extend beyond the median line. We, therefore, assume that
under no circumstances should it exceed 43 nm in the west and 95 nm in the east (the
coordinates of the delimitation of the EEZ have not been published to date).
Regarding Morocco’s continental shelf (CS), this was essentially defined in the
Dahir (decree emitted by the King) concerning the code for the exploration and
exploitation of hydrocarbon deposits and subsumed by the above-mentioned Law
2 Regional Context and Maritime Governance
19
i.e., Spain, Algeria and Morocco.
2.3.2 States and Their Maritime Jurisdictions
Now, it must be stated that in addition to fully or partially concerning the coastlines
of three States, the Alboran Sea is also bordered on by the colony of a fourth State.
Although it encompasses the entire Mediterranean seaboard of Morocco and
much of that of Spain, it only covers a small part of the Algerian coast. Meanwhile,
the eastern coast of the colony of Gibraltar descends into the Alboran Sea. It should
be pointed out that the western end of the Mediterranean, like the eastern end, is an
area where almost all the international legislation governing the sea and its inherent
activities is applied, including that established in the regional framework and the
national legislation of the Mediterranean States, as well as that of the autonomous
community of Andalusia.
Regarding UNCLOS, both Morocco and Algeria signed the convention on 10th
December 1982 and ratified it on 31st May, 2007 and 11th June, 1996, respectively.
Spain signed the convention on 4th December 1984 and ratified it on 15th January
1997. The United Kingdom endorsed the convention on 25th July 1997, and
expressly extended it to include Gibraltar.
2.3.2.1 Moroccan Legislation
With regard to the national maritime legislation of these actor in the Alboran Sea, in
1973 Morocco passed Act 1.73.211 (which will be amended and supplemented by
draft legislation 37-17). This sets the limits of the country’s territorial sea at 12 nm
and an exclusive Moroccan fishing zone at 70 nm from the baselines. Article 2 of the
mentioned Moroccan legislation adopts the equidistance method (Gutiérrez Castillo
2009) to delimit its territorial sea from its opposing and adjoining neighbours. Two
years and 4 months elapsed before a decree was passed (which will be amended and
supplemented by draft decree 2-17-349) that determined the basic closing lines on
the coast and the geographical coordinates of the limits of the territorial waters and
the Moroccan exclusive fishing zone that later became an Exclusive Economic Zone
(EEZ). The EEZ was extended to 200 nm by Act 1-81 (which will be amended and
supplemented by draft legislation 38-17), which also created the Contiguous Zone
(CZ) adjacent to the territorial sea, the width of which is 24 nm as the sea’s breadth
does not allow the EEZ to extend beyond the median line. We, therefore, assume that
under no circumstances should it exceed 43 nm in the west and 95 nm in the east (the
coordinates of the delimitation of the EEZ have not been published to date).
Regarding Morocco’s continental shelf (CS), this was essentially defined in the
Dahir (decree emitted by the King) concerning the code for the exploration and
exploitation of hydrocarbon deposits and subsumed by the above-mentioned Law
2 Regional Context and Maritime Governance
19