Recent Developments in the International Law of the Sea

This report reviews developments in the sphere of the international law of the sea during 2001.The New York Times reported recently that some of the most "pressing environmental and economic decisions - about managing global warming, finding new energy sources, predicting climate changes, sustaining fisheries and protecting coastal property-depend on understanding the inner workings of our oceans". The Oceans Act of 2000 established the newly created Ocean Commission (Commission). It held its first meeting in September 2001, and it has an eighteen-month tenure during which it must come up with recommendations for future U.S. oceans policy. The Commission will "have the opportunity to make the study of our oceans a national priority". The Commission, which is composed of scientists, government officials, and representatives of business, shall, for example, make "recommendations to the president and Congress for new policies relating to our oceans [so that we can] protect and manage fisheries and coastlines… It has been nearly three decades since the federal government created the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the federal agency that monitors and conducts research on weather and oceans. The demands on oceans and coastlines have expanded considerably since then". Another development revitalizing interest in U.S. ocean policy was the creation in the summer of 2001 of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, pursuant to legislation passed, after several attempts, by the House and Senate that was signed by the President in 2000. The 16-member Commission, chaired by former Admiral James Watkins, is charged with a comprehensive review of U.S. ocean interests and to make recommendations on a coordinated national oceans policy at the conclusion of its 18-month life. The Commission is a successor to the Stratton Commission of the 1960s. Its second meeting and first substantive session was held in Washington on November 13 and 14 during which time members of Congress and representatives of national organizations testified before the Commission. An invitation to testify was extended to the President of the American Bar Association, Bob Hirshon, who was accompanied at the hearing by former Law of the Sea Committee chairman, Peggy Tomlinson. Mr. Hirshon's statement noted, inter alia, that the ABA had adopted a resolution in August of 1994 supporting ratification of the Convention, following an extensive review of the amendment provisions of the 1994 Agreement. Following Mr. Hirshon's testimony the Commission took the somewhat unusual action of immediately proposing and unanimously passing a resolution supporting early ratification of the Convention. This resolution was subsequently sent to the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the White House, and the Secretaries of State and Defense, with a statement which quoted from Mr. Hirshon's characterization of the Convention as the foundation of a stable rule of law in the oceans. The Act creating the 18-month Commission requires the President within 120 days of delivery of the Commission's report, to submit Congress proposals and responses to its recommendation. Further hearings will be held around the country in 2002.