MSc.

Operational Maritime Management

Assignment 1 LSEA5001
Student ID:88106

Introduction

The law of the sea comprises of a collection of rules, customs, deals and other worldwide
instruments which direct the relations among country states concerning their exercises inside
diverse maritime zones. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is
one of the most far reaching and complex global arrangements that had ever been arranged and
gone into power on 16 November 1994.

The focus of UNCLOS, is to settle all issues identifying with the law of the ocean and to build up
a legitimate request for same. Customary international law recognizes only the territorial sea and
high seas as maritime zones, modern international law recognizes other maritime zones which
reflect the modern uses of the sea as well as the rights and duties of Coastal States in these zones.

This paper will examine of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and its 6
distinct maritime zones with an analysis of the effectiveness of UNCLOS and a legal framework
as a constitution for coastal state jurisdictions and improving ocean governance.

The sought outcome is generally recognized as one whereby:

Rational decisions are made concerning the conservation and sustainable use of
coastal and ocean resources and space. The process is designed to overcome the
fragmentation inherent in single sector management approaches (fishing operations,
oil and gas development etc.), in the splits in jurisdiction among different levels of
government and in the land-water interface. E Cicin-Sain et al. (1998; p. 1)

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MSc. Operational Maritime Management
Assignment 1 LSEA5001
Student ID:88106

Maritime Zones

Maritime zones are drawn using what the LOSC calls “baselines.” Unlike inland waters, coastal
waters rise and fall in tides. Rather than having moved maritime boundaries, the baseline is fixed
to begin at the low-water line along the coast. The low-water line is derived from the coastal
State’s own charts. These zones are measured using nautical miles, a measurement based on the
circumference of the Earth. One nautical mile equals roughly 1.15 miles on land (United Nations
Convention on the Law of the Sea, Article 5).

The law of the sea divides the ocean into six different zones:

1. Internal Waters were all the waters that fall landward of the baseline, such as lakes,
rivers, and tidewaters. States have the same sovereign jurisdiction over internal waters as
they do over other territory. There is no right of innocent passage through internal waters
(LOSC article 8).

2. Territorial Sea
This zone is labeled as everything from the baseline as far as possible not surpassing
twelve miles is viewed as the State's regional ocean. Regional oceans are the most direct
zone (LOSC article 3&4).

3. Contiguous Zones
States may likewise build up a contiguous zone from the external edge of the regional
oceans to a limit of 24 nautical miles from the standard. This zone exists to reinforce a
State's law implementation limit and keep hoodlums from escaping the territorial sea.
Inside the contiguous zone, a State has the privilege to both prevent and punish
infringement of fiscal, immigration of financial, movement, sterile, and customs laws
inside its region and regional sea (LOSC article 33).

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MSc. Operational Maritime Management
Assignment 1 LSEA5001
Student ID:88106

4. Exclusive Economic Zones

Unlike the different zones whose presence got from before global law, the EEZ was a
formation of the LOSC. States may guarantee an EEZ that broadens 200 nautical miles
from the gauge. In this zone, a seaside State has the elite option to exploit or preserve any
assets found inside the water, on the ocean bottom, or under the ocean bottom's earth.
(LOCS article 56).

5. Continental Shelf

The continental shelf is a natural seaward extension of a land boundary. This seaward
extension is geologically formed as the seabed slopes away from the coast, typically
consisting of a gradual slope (the continental shelf proper), followed by a steep slope (the
continental slope), and then a more gradual slope leading to the deep seabed floor.(LOCS
article 76).

6. High Seas
The ocean surface and the water column beyond the EEZ are referred to as the high seas
in the LOSC. Seabed beyond a coastal State’s EEZs and Continental Shelf claims is
known under the LOSC as the Area. (LOSC article 7).

As mentioned above see the graphic below of the LOSC six different zones:

Figure 1

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MSc. Operational Maritime Management
Assignment 1 LSEA5001
Student ID:88106

Levels of Implementation for effective Ocean Governance (Trinidad and Tobago)

The twin Island state Trinidad and Tobago can be identified by our profound ocean and coastal
realm, however our current governance and framework to effectively manage the coastal zones
has proven inadequate due to resources mismanagement and degradation coupled with the
absence of coordinating mechanism and collaborative process in which investors can cohesively
manage ocean and coastal domain in the interest of minimizing conflict and maintain efficiency.

Cicin-Sain,1993 has identify that countries can better govern ocean and coastal resources by
adapting Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM). This has become ever popular
coming out of the United National Conference on Environment and Development in 1992 which
was design to deal with coastal and ocean resources in countries and regions. In addition,
Sorensen,1997 gave clarity on several different realms to be successful as it pertains to the
uncoordinated approach to ocean and coastal management of Trinidad and Tobago, and this
includes:

Inter sectorial – Which is horizontal in nature, bringing together different agencies and groups
to manage conflicts and work towards a unified goal (Mc Shine -Mutunhu,1985). Sectoral
management dominates governance in the ocean and coastal sphere in Trinidad and Tobago
(Mycoo, 2002; Soma, 2003). This mechanism, in turn, negatively affects efficiency and
sustainability of coastal zone activities and resource use. This mode of integration is crucial as
mentioned by Born and Miller (1998) who analyses this approached to coastal management
through the USA in comparison and established new and monolithic body with powers to plan
and regulate aspects of coastal ocean management.

Inter- Governmental – Which is vertical and seeks to enhance co-ordination and

communication amongst several tiers of government, communities, local government (Municipal
Corporations), Central government and citizenry. The land area in Trinidad is divided into
fourteen municipalities. These municipalities represent local government districts where elected
and appointed officials are tasked with ensuring that specific functions and responsibilities,

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MSc. Operational Maritime Management
Assignment 1 LSEA5001
Student ID:88106

assigned to Municipal Corporations through the Municipal Corporations Act, chapter 25:04, are
carried out effectively.

Spatial - This efficiently utilizes the limited coastal space and rationally manages the myriad of
activities that competes for it. In the 1970s/80s, proper co-ordination of use of space within the
coastal zones was identified as a major problem (McShine -Mutunhu,1985). In Trinidad and
Tobago, the need to consider the interconnectivity between land and sea was never explicitly
brought to the fore in the Town and Country Planning Act, Chapter 35:01. This Act provided
guidance as to what should be considered when creating Development Plans for the country.
Employing a planning process that lays out a vision for the future development, growth and use
of areas is largely standard practice in governing terrestrial land use and management in
countries around the world. In Trinidad and Tobago, creation of the NPDP, the NSDS and a
series of local and regional plans came about through this approach.

International – Where discourse between nations states is needed to placate trans-boundary

issues affecting coastal area management. Trinidad and Tobago are the southern-most nation in
the Caribbean archipelagic chain. Its closeness to neighboring nations is with the end goal that it
has needed to negotiate with Grenada, Barbados Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and
Venezuela to delimit areas of its EEZ. The nation perceives the significance of respective
negotiations to give appropriate coastal marine administration.

A guide to look at is the September 2013 gas deal with Venezuela which rides across the
Venezuelan oceanic limit. The Twin Island likewise recognizes international gatherings as real
methods for dispute resolutions as it pertains to coastal zone management whereby way of the
International Tribunal for the law of the Sea (ITLOS) and the International Court of equity.

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MSc. Operational Maritime Management
Assignment 1 LSEA5001
Student ID:88106

Conclusion

The readiness of States to acknowledge more prominent coastal state jurisdiction over a greater
amount of the sea space to anticipate further degradation of the marine climate is reflected not
just in the authentic patterns in worldwide law, however in UNCLOS itself. Just as freedom of
the seas can no longer be seen to allow a State to exploit the natural resources of the high seas
irrespective of other States' interests, freedom of navigation - even on the high seas - can no
longer be seen as giving States the unfettered right to operate vessels irrespective of possible
damage

Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) has been distinguished as a measure that could
be applied to oversee Trinidad and Tobago's coastal and ocean space can be more sustainable. As
a participatory cycle requiring talk, co-ordination, and harmonization among government
organizations and different partners, including networks, it would attempt to improve
government so that, contention is mitigated, an equalization is struck among protection and
development contemplations, sustainable livelihoods are promoted and the vulnerability of
coastal populations is reduced to the environment.

Recommendation

In Trinidad and Tobago ‘s context, several recommendations have been put forward through
which ICZM can be given effect. These include:

 Establishing, legally grounding and adequately resourcing a Coastal Zone Management

Council.
 Increasing opportunities for genuine stakeholder participation in ocean and coastal
governance by implementing a system that better utilizes the reach and access of Local
Governments to the general population.

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MSc. Operational Maritime Management
Assignment 1 LSEA5001
Student ID:88106

 Adopting and expanding the application of marine spatial planning approaches

nationwide; and
 Boosting the research, “interpretive” and outreach capacity of institutions with
responsibility for conducting ocean and coastal scientific research and the IMA.
Source: Hassanali, K., 2015

References

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Article 5, Dec. 10, 1982, 1833 U.N.T.S. 397

Cicin-Sain, B., Knecht, R.W., Knecht, R., Jang, D. and Fisk, G.W., 1998. Integrated coastal and
ocean management: concepts and practices. Island press.

Hassanali, K., 2015. Improving ocean and coastal governance in Trinidad and Tobago–Moving
towards ICZM. Ocean & Coastal Management, 106, pp.1-9.

Sorensen, J., 1997. National and international efforts at integrated coastal management:
definitions, achievements, and lessons. Coastal management, 25(1), pp.3-41.

Kishore, R.O.S.E.M.A.R.I.E., Chin, X.I.O.M.A.R.A. and Ramsundar, H.E.M.A., 2003. Potential

impacts of industrial development on coastal fisheries in the Gulf of Paria, Trinidad.

Hershman, M.J., Good, J.W., Bernd-Cohen, T., Goodwin, R.F., Lee, V. and Pogue, P., 1999. The
effectiveness of coastal zone management in the United States. Coastal Management, 27(2-3),
pp.113-138.

Pages, C.A., 1969. TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING ACT. Town and Country Planning
(Use Classes), 124, p.47.