UNCLOS III: Areas of Limitation

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UNCLOS III
Areas of Limitation
VICTOR OLERSKIY Member of the Board of Directors
at Russian Fishery LLC
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Victor Olerskiy
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Contiguous Zones and Exclusive Economic
Zones Contiguous zones extend a fur- ther 12
nautical miles, and nations have the right to
enforce laws on pollution, immigration, customs
and taxation in these waters. Ex- clusive
economic zones cover 200 nautical miles from the
baseline and mean the coastal nation has
exploitation rights over all natu- ral resources
in the exclusive eco- nomic zone (EEZ).
" UNCLOS III is the name given to the third
Conference on the Laws of the Sea held by the
United Nations, the results of which convention
came into force in November, 1994.
Internal Waters and Territorial Waters The
convention establishes the rights of nations
over their internal waterways and territorial
waters, which are those lying up to 12 nau-
tical miles out from the baseline. Foreign
vessels have no automatic right to sail internal
waters, but in- nocent passage is allowed in
terri- torial waters.
Archipelagic Waters and the Continental
Shelf Archipelagic waters define areas of the
ocean away from the baseline but surrounding
islands, while the continental shelf is the
greater of 200 nautical miles from the base-
line or the natural prolongation of land
territory to the outer edge of the continental
margin.
Victor Olerskiy
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Victor Olerskiy
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