Law of the Sea Institute and its Mission Law of the Sea Institute and its Mission The Law of the Sea Institute, which sponsors this web facility, is housed at the University of Miami School of Law and the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine Science. The Director of the Institute is Professor Bernard H. Oxman, Faculty of Law, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, 33124-8087. The Law of the Sea Institute is governed by a prestigious international board, representing the private, public, and academic sectors of the international ocean policy community.
Water covers more than seventy per cent of the surface of the earth.
The fate of nations and societies has often depended upon the ability and the wisdom to use this vast resource. Prehistoric Polynesians sailed double-hulled canoes across the vast Pacific without sextant, chronometer, or compass. Skilled in the most advanced ocean science and technology of their day, they spread their culture and language throughout the Pacific. Early Hawaiians survived in the ocean environment by adopting wise rules for use of the ocean's bounty. They established Konohikis, extending property rights over fertile waters both inside and beyond island reefs.