445 



was accomplished through an official proclamation of policy by Presi- 

 dent Harry S. Truman in 1945, subsequently referred to as the Truman 

 Proclamation. This proclamation had the effect of opening a "Pan- 

 dora's Box" for other nations bordering; the seas, regardless of whether 

 they possessed the technological capabilities to utilize the seabed as 

 did the United States. 



The decade of the fifties witnessed several attempts to define the 

 continental shelf and the coastal boundaries. The United States Con- 

 trress passed the Submerged Lands Act of 1953. followed a few months 

 later by the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. In 1958, representa- 

 tives of the world's maritime nations at Geneva produced a multi- 

 lateral agreement on the law of the sea in what are referred to as the 

 Geneva Conventions. 



These events leading to the legal delineations of the continental shelf 

 are discussed below in chronological order. 



THE TRUMAN PROCLAMATION 



On September 28, 1945, two policy proclamations on ocean affairs 

 were issued by President Harry S. Truman. The first established a 

 national policy with respect to the natural resources of the subsoil 

 and seabed of the continental shelf ; the second proclaimed U.S. policy 

 with respect to coastal fisheries in certain areas of the high seas. 



In the first proclamation, the Government regarded as "reasonable 

 and just" the exercise of jurisdiction over the natural resources of the 

 subsoil and seabed of the continental shelf by the contiguous nation. It 

 recognized that the continental shelf was to be regarded as an extension 

 of the land mass of the coastal nation and thus naturally "appurtenant" 

 to it* 



* * * the Government of the United States regards the natural resources of the 

 subsoil and seabed of the continental shelf beneath the high seas but contiguous 

 to the coasts of the United States as appertaining to the United States, subject to 

 its jurisdiction and control. 



The Proclamation did not specifically delineate any boundary lines 

 or numerical extent of the continental shelf. However, a news release 

 issued on the same day by the White House explained that this proc- 

 lamation did not prejudge the question of Federal versus State con- 

 trol, and that it was intended to enable — 



* * * the orderly development of an underwater area 750,000 square miles in 

 extent. Generally, submerged land which is contiguous to the continent and which 

 is covered by no more than 100 fathoms (600 feet) of water is considered as the 

 continental shelf. 



In order to differentiate between the seabed and the subsoil on the 

 one hand, and the superjacent water on the other, the second proclama- 

 tion was issued, declaring that — 



* * * the Government of the United States regards it as proper to establish 

 conservation zones in those areas of the high seas contiguous to the coasts of the 

 United States wherein fishing activties have been or in the future may be de- 

 veloped and maintained on a substantial scale. * * * The United States regards 

 it as proper to establish explicitly bounded conservation zones in which fishing 

 activities shall be subject to the regulation and control of the United States. 



The declaration went further in conceding similar prerogatives to all 

 other nations, concerning the "right of any state to establish conserva- 



