Rationalization at sea

UNCLOS is only part of intergovernmental efforts to make sense of the new circumstances offshore. The secretariats of the various UN component organs and agencies have always cooperated on the potential of the marine dimension. Plans and policies are evolving, coastal states are getting encouragement to see the sea as an aspect of foreign policy deserving regional collaboration, and a modest rationalization of global interests is taking shape, albeit slowly.     

Update — the tenth session

After consultations with the other interested departments and agencies of the United States Government, the Secretary of State has instructed our representative to the UN Law of the Sea Conference to seek to ensure that the negotiations do not end at the present session of the conference, pending a policy review by the United States Government. The interested departments and agencies have begun studies of the serious problems raised by the draft convention, and these will be the subject of a thorough review which will determine our position toward the negotiations.' (Press Release posted at the US Department of State, 2 March 1981).     

Seafarers' access to jurisdictions over labour matters

The Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 outlines a framework for states to enforce jurisdiction over maritime labour matters, including the Flag State, Port State and Labour Supplying State. However, the Convention does not provide explicit guidance on jurisdiction determination. This article argues that seafarers should have the right to access the jurisdictions of member states, and that future amendment to the Convention should confirm this right. This paper first analyses current theories of maritime labour jurisdiction. Secondly, it conducts a comparative doctrinal analysis regarding adjudicative jurisdiction principles in common law and civil law systems. Thirdly, in three case studies involving concurrence jurisdictions of member states, this article finds that the authority of any single member state is not reliably accessible to seafarers, in particular when the state has no strong link with the seafarers. This article recommends that seafarers’ rights in the Convention to choose one jurisdiction from relevant member states should be confirmed in a future amendment.     

Multilateralism in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore

This paper analyzes International Maritime Organization (IMO) involvement in maritime cooperation regime in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore through multilateralism. It begins by introducing the maritime cooperation regime prior to 2001, which was mainly trilateral in nature through Tripartite Technical Expert Group on the Safety of Navigation (TTEG). Although TTEG managed to increase the level of safety of navigation in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore through the implementation of the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) in 1981 and Mandatory Ship Reporting System (STRAITREP) in 1998, such cooperation was beset by financial strain and conflict of interests. Subsequently, there was a change in the cooperation regime after 9/11 incident. This paper identifies that the change was contributed by the IMO through a methodology called multilateralism. Three important principles were adopted by IMO in implementing multilateralism in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore, namely generalized principles of conduct (respect for sovereignty and compliance with burden sharing principle under Article 43 of UNCLOS 1982), diffuse reciprocity, and indivisibility. This paper concludes that multilateralism by IMO has transformed trilateral cooperation into multilateral cooperation in the Straits of Malacca, combining state actors (littoral states and user states) and non-state actors (non-governmental organizations and international shipping industries).     

Scalar reorganisation of marine governance in Europe? The implementation of the marine strategy framework directive in Spain,Portugal and Germany

European marine policies have recently been consolidated, and the scalar organisation of marine governance has been questioned. This paper examines this phenomenon in Europe as a result of implementation of the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) and examines changes in the role of the national state vis à vis other levels of jurisdiction in marine policy. The relevance of use pressures differs across European member states, as do national policy styles and institutional configurations. Therefore, a nuanced picture is needed regarding the ways European marine policy is being implemented. To this end, the paper employs a co-evolutionary perspective studying the cases of Germany, Spain and Portugal. European marine policy has become anchored in the most relevant policy fields except agriculture and fisheries, and competency regarding its environmental dimension has been strengthened, formalized and clarified as a result of the MSFD. Its implementation, tied to international marine protection, comes following initiatives to develop maritime economies. In Portugal, implementation of the MSFD did not change the scalar organisation of natural resource governance. In Spain and Germany, the MSFD led to disputes regarding clarification of competencies. In the course of implementing the MSFD in Germany, challenges are tied to the political dimensions of formalizing practices and producing integrated policies. In Spain and Portugal, comprehensive stock-taking is itself a challenging task.     

Technical tools for regional seas management: the role of the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS)

The Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) is a system of organization providing a framework for the ocean observing activities of the world and the organizations, programmes and projects that support them. GOOS is a tool designed to provide information required to meet the needs of a wide user community. It may be used to increase the effectiveness of the regional seas programme in meeting its targets, and to help regional fisheries bodies to implement an ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management. GOOS will be implemented by national agencies operating individually or with others through regional agreements of various kinds. Several nations with common interests in particular seas have already combined their efforts into regional GOOS bodies. To a large extent these map onto the UNEP regional sea areas, to which they are complementary. GOOS implementation began in 1998, and efforts are underway to make it useful to UNEP's regional seas programme.     

《伦敦公约》正朝向《联合国海洋法公约》接轨

《伦敦公约》(下简称公约)是1972年在伦敦召开的政府间关于海上倾倒废物公约会议上通过的。该公约的问世,是鉴于到本世纪70年代初期,已认识到海洋环境净化人类工业活动废物的能力并不是无限的,海上倾倒作为处置废物的一种手段所带来的弊端,已逐渐引起国际社会的关注,在这种背景情况下召开的特别国际会议,终于通过一项防止海上倾倒造成海洋污染的多边公约。公约自1975年生效以来,已成功地对海上倾倒实施了管理,完善了控制海上倾倒体系,交流处置废物科学方法的信息等方面起到了积极作     

The influence of wave-current sea states on the reliability estimates of offshore towers

Since offshore towers are high-cost, high-risk structures, reliability analysis is of great importance in their design. This paper presents a possible practical approach to certify a design through selective critical member reliability estimates. After a brief review of current research in this field, the authors outline a procedure for reliability estimation of structural members in extreme stress and fatigue limit states. A spectral approach for the extreme response statistics with stochastic loading is described. The reliabilities are computed by the Level II first-order second moment (advanced) method. The fatigue reliability is estimated with a narrow-banded stress assumption with discrete, but significant sea states within the life of the structure. Two numerical examples, a three shallow water model and a two-dimensional deep water model are presented along with the influences of stochastic variables (sea state, current, tubular member diameter) on reliabilities (extreme stress and fatigue damage).     

Institutional ambiguity in implementing the European Union Marine Strategy Framework Directive

This article addresses the institutional ambiguity that exists between the European, Regional and Member State levels in the implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). The two main reasons for the emergence of institutional ambiguity are (1) the MSFD being a framework directive and (2) Member States are required to coordinate the implementation of the MFSD through the Regional Sea Conventions. Institutional ambiguity refers to the interference zone between different institutional settings that come together in new policy practices. New rules of the game are needed to bring these institutional settings together and the room to manoeuvre for the actors who negotiate these rules is a defining feature of institutional ambiguity. This article analyses the institutional ambiguity associated with MSFD implementation on the European and regional level for four European Seas: the North Sea, the Baltic Sea, the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea. The results indicate different levels of institutional ambiguity in each of the four regions, with the lowest level of ambiguity in the Baltic Sea and the highest in the Mediterranean Sea. Institutional ambiguity also exists on the European level, as coordination efforts have not resulted in clear directions for the implementation of the MSFD as yet. The level of institutional ambiguity is influenced by the relative number of EU member states bordering the particular sea and whether they consider implementation of the MFSD to be urgent. Member States bordering the Mediterranean and the Black Seas lack the support of Regional Sea Conventions in addition to receiving limited direction from the European level.     

The European Marine Strategy: Contribution and challenges from a Portuguese perspective

The EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) is considered to be the environmental pillar of the EU Integrated Maritime Policy, establishing a framework within which member states must take the necessary measures to achieve, or maintain, good environmental status in their marine waters. This study presents Portugal's contributions to the Directive development, describes the Portuguese institutional framework within the MSFD and, finally, highlights the opportunities and threats to the success of the MSFD implementation in Portugal. The latter entails an analysis of the Directive's long term adequacy in its link to (1) marine spatial planning, (2) climate change and (3) the economic/financial crisis. With one of Europe's largest exclusive economic zones. Portugal's interest in the MSFD is paramount. Efforts towards the approval of the final document were assured during the Portuguese presidency of the European Council of Ministers, in 2007, while chairing a thorough discussion between the Council and the European Parliament. In the Portuguese context, the Directive implementation will rely on the Water Institute as the authoritative entity, which will be responsible for coordinating all necessary efforts at the national level. The success of such process depends on a close cooperation among the institutions involved as well as on how approved measures account for long term issues. In addition, the MSFD implementation must be built on lessons learned within the Water Framework Directive, in order to be successful. Although it poses a methodological challenge to Portugal, the MSFD implementation is expected to contribute significantly to the improvement of coastal/marine conservation and management at the national level.     

The Common Fisheries Policy and UK quota management

Exclusive Economic Zones and the formulation of a Common Fisheries Policy have profoundly reshaped the political geography of the NE Atlantic fisheries. Outlining the characteristics of the new management framework, the paper draws attention to the use of Total Allowable Catches (TACs) as a mechanism for attempting to reconcile the need for stock conservation with demands for equitable allocation of catches between member states and the creation of an orderly market. Member states are free to manage their fisheries within the parameters set by TACs. For Britain, two systems have evolved: a centralised system for Area VII and a devolved system of ‘sectoral quota management’ for Areas IV and VI in which Producer Organisations can assume the role of quota managers on behalf of their members. The paper examines the latter system in detail and points to the inevitable conflicts between equity and efficiency.     

Economic gains of liberalising access to fishing quotas within the European Union

This paper analyses the extent to which specialisation gains can be achieved by liberalising access to fishing quotas within the European Union (EU). Fishing quotas are today exchanged between EU member states at a rate of 4% of total turnover in EU fisheries. Germany, Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands are the most active. Only one fourth of these exchanges are permanent. With the management systems in EU fisheries differing among countries, comparative advantages in fisheries exist in member states with the best management practices. Hence, although positive but small specialisation gains exist in EU fisheries today, these gains might potentially be increased by liberalising access to fishing quotas and allowing transferability of quotas between individuals from different countries on a permanent basis. Increasing the gains might, however, affect relative stability.     

Cost-benefit analysis in the context of the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive: The case of Germany

The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) requires EU member states (MS) to develop and implement marine strategies containing programs of measures to protect and preserve the marine environment. Prior to their implementation, impact assessments, including Cost-Benefit-Analyses (CBA), need to be carried out. While the costs of introducing such measures are often relatively easy to determine, the economic valuation of the benefits derived from environmental improvements is much more challenging, particularly in the marine context. Still, it remains an important prerequisite for conducting CBA. The aim of this paper is to evaluate to what extent benefits can be quantified for use in CBA focusing on the German marine waters. The results indicate that there are still considerable gaps in the scientific knowledge about many of the pressures mentioned in the MSFD. Moreover, few economic studies exist that evaluate the benefits of marine protection measures, and many of them are not applicable in the German context. In addition, there is the risk that some benefits accruing from marine protection measures are systematically omitted in CBA. This raises the question to what extent comprehensive CBAs as required by the MSFD are possible in Germany, but also in other EU MS.     

The 1995 Agreement on the conservation and management of straddling and highly migratory fish stocks: significance for the Law of the Sea Convention

On 4 August 1995, the UN Conference on Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks adopted an Agreement for the conservation and management of straddling and highly migratory fish stocks. The mandate given by the General Assembly required that the results of the Conference be fully consistent with the UN Law of the Sea Convention. The purpose of this article is to examine the significance of the agreement for the law of the sea as embodied in the Convention. It shows that the agreement constitutes an important contribution to the Convention in that it facilitates the implementation of the Convention's provisions, strengthens the Convention's regime, and further develops general or framework rules of the Convention. The most significant contribution lies in the development of the law with respect to such issues as the precautionary approach to fisheries, compatibility of conservation and management measures adopted for areas under national jurisdiction and those for the adjacent high seas areas, the role of regional organizations or arrangements, duties of the flag State, enforcement against foreign vessels on the high seas, and port State jurisdiction.     

Fishing capacity management in China: Theoretic and practical perspectives

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Committee on Fisheries (COFI) adopted an International Plan of Action for the Management of Fishing Capacity, which calls for all member states to achieve efficient, equitable and transparent management of fishing capacity by 2005. Based on the theoretical review of fishing capacity management, this paper examines the major practices made by China's government in managing the fishing capacity of its marine capture fisheries. Finally, it categorizes the main practices and then analyses and evaluates their effects.     

A contribution to the implementation of ICZM in the Mediterranean developing countries

The purpose of this paper is to assess the level of implementation of Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) principles in the Mediterranean developing countries at the moment of signing the protocol on ICZM for the Mediterranean, in the framework of the UNEP Mediterranean Action Plan of the Barcelona Convention. This assessment is based on the results of two advanced seminars on ICZM promoted by the Azahar programme of the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation for the Development (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation). The contribution of the participants of the seminar, who are representatives of national agencies related with ICZM in different Mediterranean countries, have been collected through a questionnaire including: (i) a ranking of the main coastal sectors and the main coastal issues of each country; (ii) significant initiatives for the sustainable development of the Mediterranean coastal zones; and (iii) the evaluation of the ICZM progress. The state of the coast, the level of implementation of ICZM and the main problems faced to apply it, have been detected for each country. None of the consulted countries have a full implemented integrated coastal zone management, the major problems being: (i) the lack of financial commitment for the implementation of ICZM; (ii) the lack of an assessment and monitoring system; (iii) the lack of knowledge regarding the coastal system; (iv) the lack of qualified human resources; and (v) the lack of public participation and administrative integration strategies based on information. From these conclusions, some recommendations to improve ICZM are also provided. The work presented in this paper is the starting point to assess the evolution and the reference from which ICZM will be improved through the protocol on ICZM for the Mediterranean.     

Biogeographic assessments: A framework for information synthesis in marine spatial planning

This paper presents the Biogeographic Assessment Framework (BAF), a decision support process for marine spatial planning (MSP), developed through two decades of close collaborations between scientists and marine managers. Spatial planning is a considerable challenge for marine stewardship agencies because of the need to synthesize information on complex socio-ecological patterns across geographically broad spatial scales. This challenge is compounded by relatively short time-frames for implementation and limited financial and technological resources. To address this pragmatically, BAF provides a rapid, flexible and multi-disciplinary approach to integrate geospatial information into formats and visualization tools readily useable for spatial planning. Central to BAF is four sequential components: (1) Planning; (2) Data Evaluation; (3) Ecosystem Characterization; and (4) Management Applications. The framework has been applied to support the development of several marine spatial plans in the United States and Territories. This paper describes the structure of the BAF framework and the associated analytical techniques. Two management applications are provided to demonstrate the utility of BAF in supporting decision making in MSP.     

New regional fisheries management regimes: establishing the South East Atlantic fisheries organisation

On the 20th of April 2001 the coastal States and fishing nations of the South East Atlantic Ocean adopted the “Convention on the Conservation and Management of Fishery Resources in the South East Atlantic Ocean”. This article analyses the process of negotiating the convention, from its initiation by Namibia in 1995 until its adoption in 2001. It argues that the fisheries played a secondary role in the process, while the negotiations revolved around the appropriate status and implementation of the UN Fish Stocks Agreement of 1995.     

Examination of policies and MEAs commitment by SIDS for sustainable management of the Caribbean Sea

The Caribbean Sea hosts twenty-seven small island developing states (SIDS), some of which utilise their marine resources found in the Caribbean Sea for economic gains. Many of the economic activities such as tourism, shipping and industrial development are currently incompatible with a healthy and sustainable marine environment. Sewage, agricultural effluents and hydrocarbon pollution resulting from these economic activities have led to degradation of this large marine ecosystem. In an effort to address these issues; policies, programmes and multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) were initiated in order to regionalise the response efforts. These include efforts such the Cartagena Convention, the integrated watershed and coastal area management (IWCAM) initiative and pollution assessment among others. This paper reviews the regional responses by the SIDS and other agencies in dealing with pollution from land and marine-based activities and biodiversity loss via these initiatives.     

The role of the European Community in the Mediterranean coastal zone management

The objective of this paper is to focus on the role of the European Community (EC) in the management of the coastal zones of the Mediterranean. The EC performs this role at two levels of involvement: with respect to its Mediterranean member states and through the Euro-Mediterranean co-operation, in co-ordination with international and regional initiatives, such as those of the United Nations (Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP)) and the World Bank. According to this, the coastal policy of the EC is considered with special attention to past and current developments, and the main policy objectives and instruments are discussed. This review is followed by a brief analysis of the EC Mediterranean coastal zone: the general use and development patterns, the main pressures bearing upon it, and its definition from a legal and administrative perspective. An evaluation of the role of the EC in the Mediterranean context then follows, with particular reference to the ongoing developments of the Euro-Mediterranean co-operation within MAP and the Barcelona Convention system. On this basis, conclusions are drawn on the need to improve the EC Mediterranean coastal policy through a strengthened integration between the various EC sectoral policies, and between these policies and the policies of the member states, and through an optimised co-ordination with MAP.