Exclusive Economic Zone or EEZ
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| Eez and Continental shelf |
Generally, a state's
exclusive economic zone is an area beyond and adjacent to the territorial sea,
extending seaward to a distance of no more than 200 nautical miles (370 km) out
from its coastal baseline. The exception to this rule occurs when exclusive economic
zones would overlap; that is, state coastal baselines are less than 400
nautical miles (740 km) apart. When an overlap occurs, it is up to the states
to delineate the actual maritime boundary. Generally, any point within an
overlapping area defaults to the nearest state.
A state's exclusive
economic zone starts at the seaward edge of its territorial sea and extends
outward to a distance of 200 nautical miles (370.4 km) from the baseline. The
exclusive economic zone stretches much further into sea than the territorial
waters, which end at 12 nmi (22 km) from the coastal baseline (if following the
rules set out in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea). Thus, the exclusive
economic zones includes the contiguous zone. States also have rights to the seabed
of what is called the continental shelf up to 350 nautical miles (648 km) from
the coastal baseline, beyond the exclusive economic zones, but such areas are
not part of their exclusive economic zones. The legal definition of the
continental shelf does not directly correspond to the geological meaning of the
term, as it also includes the continental rise and slope, and the entire seabed
within the exclusive economic zone.⇁λλ
Origin: The idea of
allotting nations EEZs to give them more control of maritime affairs outside
territorial limits gained acceptance in the late 20th century.
1.
Initially, a country's sovereign
territorial waters extended 3 nautical miles or 6 km (range of cannon shot)
beyond the shore.
2.
In modern times, a country's sovereign
territorial waters extend to 12 nautical miles (~22 km) beyond the shore.
3.
One of the first assertions of exclusive
jurisdiction beyond the traditional territorial seas was made by the United
States in the Truman Proclamation of September 28, 1945. However, it was Chile
and Peru respectively that first claimed maritime zones of 200 nautical miles
with the Presidential Declaration Concerning Continental Shelf of 23 June 1947
(El Mercurio, Santiago de Chile, 29 June 1947) and Presidential Decree No. 781
of 1 August 1947 (El Peruano: Diario Oficial. Vol. 107, No. 1983, 11 August
1947).
4.
It was not until 1982 with the UN
Convention on the Law of the Sea that the 200-nautical mile exclusive economic
zone was formally adopted as: Part V, Article 55 of the Convention states:
Specific legal regime
of the exclusive economic zone
The exclusive economic
zone is an area beyond and adjacent to the territorial sea, subject to the
specific legal regime established in this Part, under which the rights and
jurisdiction of the coastal State and the rights and freedoms of other States
are governed by the relevant provisions of this Convention.
Disputes: The exact
extent of exclusive economic zones is a common source of conflicts between
states over marine waters.
1.
One well-known example of such dispute
was the Cod Wars between the United Kingdom and Iceland.
2.
Norway and Russia dispute both
territorial sea and EEZ with regard to the Svalbard archipelago as it affects
Russia's EEZ due to its unique treaty status. A treaty was agreed in principle
in April 2010 between the two states and subsequently ratified, resolving this
demarcation dispute. The agreement was signed in Murmansk on September 15,
2010.
3.
The South China Sea (and the Spratly
Islands) is the site of an ongoing dispute between several neighbouring
nations.
4.
Croatia's ZERP (Ecological and Fisheries
Protection Zone) in the Adriatic Sea caused friction with Italy and Slovenia,
and caused problems during Croatia's accession to the European Union.
5.
A wedge-shaped section of the Beaufort
Sea is disputed between Canada and the United States, as the area reportedly
contains substantial oil reserves.
6.
France claims a portion of Canada's EEZ
for Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon based on a new definition of the continental shelf
and EEZ between the two countries. Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon is entirely
surrounded by Canada's EEZ.
7.
Mauritius claims EEZ for Tromelin from
France and EEZ for British Indian Ocean Territory from the UK.
8.
Northern Cyprus claims a portion of
Cyprus' EEZ overlaps with that of Northern Cyprus in the south/south-eastern
part of the Cyprus island.
9.
Turkey claims a portion of Cyprus's EEZ
overlaps with its own EEZ.
10.
Lebanon claims that the agreement
between Cyprus and Israel overlapped its own EEZ.
Indian EEZ:
India, a traditionally
maritime country with rich maritime heritage, has an Exclusive Economic Zone
(EEZ) of about 2.37 million km2 wherein India enjoy the exclusive legal right
to utilize all living and non-living resources.
Indian EEZ:
- Maritime claims: territorial sea: 12 nm
- contiguous zone: 24 nm
- exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
- continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
Definition Of Exclusive Economic Zone or EEZ:
This entry
includes the following claims, the definitions of which are excerpted from the
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which alone contains
the full and definitive descriptions:
Territorial sea - the
sovereignty of a coastal state extends beyond its land territory and internal
waters to an adjacent belt of sea, described as the territorial sea in the
UNCLOS (Part II); this sovereignty extends to the air space over the
territorial sea as well as its underlying seabed and subsoil; every state has
the right to establish the breadth of its territorial sea up to a limit not
exceeding 12 nautical miles; the normal baseline for measuring the breadth of
the territorial sea is the mean low-water line along the coast as marked on
large-scale charts officially recognized by the coastal state; the UNCLOS
describes specific rules for archipelagic states.
Contiguous zone -
according to the UNCLOS (Article 33), this is a zone contiguous to a coastal
state's territorial sea, over which it may exercise the control necessary to:
prevent infringement of its customs, fiscal, immigration, or sanitary laws and
regulations within its territory or territorial sea; punish infringement of the
above laws and regulations committed within its territory or territorial sea;
the contiguous zone may not extend beyond 24 nautical miles from the baselines
from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured (e.g. the US has
claimed a 12-nautical mile contiguous zone in addition to its 12-nautical mile
territorial sea).
Exclusive economic zone
(EEZ) - the UNCLOS (Part V) defines the EEZ as a zone beyond and adjacent to
the territorial sea in which a coastal state has: sovereign rights for the
purpose of exploring and exploiting, conserving and managing the natural
resources, whether living or non-living, of the waters superjacent to the
seabed and of the seabed and its subsoil, and with regard to other activities
for the economic exploitation and exploration of the zone, such as the
production of energy from the water, currents, and winds; jurisdiction with
regard to the establishment and use of artificial islands, installations, and
structures; marine scientific research; the protection and preservation of the
marine environment; the outer limit of the exclusive economic zone shall not
exceed 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the
territorial sea is measured.
What is Continental shelf -
The
UNCLOS (Article 76) defines the continental shelf of a coastal state as
comprising the seabed and subsoil of the submarine areas that extend beyond its
territorial sea throughout the natural prolongation of its land territory to
the outer edge of the continental margin, or to a distance of 200 nautical
miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is
measured where the outer edge of the continental margin does not extend up to
that distance; the continental margin comprises the submerged prolongation of
the landmass of the coastal state, and consists of the seabed and subsoil of
the shelf, the slope and the rise; wherever the continental margin extends
beyond 200 nautical miles from the baseline, coastal states may extend their
claim to a distance not to exceed 350 nautical miles from the baseline or 100
nautical miles from the 2500 meter isobath; it does not include the deep ocean
floor with its oceanic ridges or the subsoil thereof.
Exclusive fishing zone -
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While this term is not used in the UNCLOS, some states (e.g., the United Kingdom) have chosen not to claim an EEZ, but rather to claim jurisdiction over the living resources off their coast; in such cases, the term exclusive fishing zone is often used; the breadth of this zone is normally the same as the EEZ or 200 nautical miles.
