CHAPTER U 

 INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES 



During 1975, the law of the sea negotiations continued working 

 toward the adoption of international conventions for the prevention of 

 marine pollution, and in the resolution of international fisheries issues. 

 The year was also marked by advancess in international research 

 programs, many of them involving efforts to preserve the ocean environ- 

 ment. 



United Nations Law of the Sea Conference 



The Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea con- 

 tinues to be the most significant international ocean activity occurring 

 today. At this conference, approximately 150 countries, including 120 

 coastal states, are attempting to bring a greater degree of legal order to 

 the seas. Conference discussions embrace such wide-ranging issues as 

 the breadth of the territorial sea, unimpeded passage through, under, and 

 over straits used for international navigation, the living and mineral 

 resources of the economic zone and the Continental Shelf, mineral 

 resources of the deep seabed, marine pollution, marine scientific 

 research, and the peaceful and compulsory settlement of disputes. 



The present conference is the result of several years of preparatory 

 work within the United Nations. A short organizing session was held in 

 New York in December 1973. The first substantive session of the Third 

 U.N. Conference on the Law of the Sea was held in Caracas, Venezuela, 

 during the summer of 1974. The second and most recent substantive ses- 

 sion of the conference was held in Geneva, Switzerland, during the 

 spring of 1975. The principal results of the Geneva session were the 

 drafting and distribution of an informal Single Negotiating Text pre- 

 pared by the chairmen of the main conference committees, covering 

 subjects before the conference. The Single Negotiating Text is intended 

 to take into account all the formal and informal discussions held thus 

 far. It is informal in character and therefore does not prejudice the posi- 

 tion of any nation, nor does it represent any negotiated text or accepted 



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