The development of the international law of marine fisheries

Abstract

This dissertation traces the development of the international law of marine fisheries from its origins to the end of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea in 1982. Analysis is made of the law's development in terms of both the pre-existing law and broader aspects of the contemporary international law-making process. Where necessary, the law's development is placed in its wider social, economic, political and technological context. The discussion is divided into three main parts. The first part sees the development of the law from its roots in ancient Mediterranean legal systems to the end of World War II. Discussion focusses on fishery-related aspects of the elaboration of the concept of maritime jurisdiction in medieval law; the 'Mare Liberum' - 'Mare Liberum' debate between Grotius and Seiden and their successors; the gradual and widespread coalescence in State practice of fishery jurisdiction and the three-mile limit of the territorial sea in the nineteenth century; and various efforts to codify the law during the period. The second part covers the early post-WWII period and features the rise of the concept of the coastal State's 'special interest' in adjacent fisheries. Discussed in some detail are the Truman Proclamations relating to fisheries and the continental shelf which began the modern international movement towards extended coastal State fishery jurisdiction; the 1951 Anglo-Norwegian Fisheries case before the International Court of Justice; international reaction to the Truman Proclamations; and the deliberations of the first two United Nations Conferences on the Law of the Sea. The third part discusses the development of the law from 1960 to the end of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS III). Attention focusses on the spread of special fishery zones after UNCLOS II; the 1974 Fisheries Jurisdiction case before the International Court of Justice; the proceedings and contribution of the United Nations Sea-Bed Committee and UNCLOS III to the development of the law; and State practice from 1973 to 1982. The study ends with a consideration of the state of the law at the end of UNCLOS III.