compromise. It is expected to serve as a procedural device and as a basis 

 for further negotiations. 



The structure of the conference consists of three main committees: 

 Committee I deals with issues concerning the mineral resources of the 

 deep seabed; Committee III deals with issues concerning protection of 

 the marine environment, marine scientific research, and transfer of 

 technology; and Committee II deals essentially with all the remaining 

 law of the sea issues, such as the breadth of the territorial sea, the extent 

 and status of an economic zone, and fisheries management. In addition, 

 an informal group within the conference is considering the peaceful set- 

 tlement of disputes. 



In Committee II, there appears to be general agreement on the struc- 

 ture of a 12-mile territorial sea, unimpeded passage through, under, and 

 over straits, a 200-mile economic zone with coastal state sovereign rights 

 over living and nonliving resources, and special treatment for highly 

 migratory species such as tuna and anadromous species such as salmon. 



The future major negotiating problems facing Committee II are likely 

 to include the following unresolved issues: 



• Status of the economic zone. — Assuming all resource and 

 economic activities (activities other than navigation, overflight, 

 submarine cable and pipeline operation, and other reasonable uses 

 of the high seas) are subject to coastal state jurisdiction and that 

 pollution and scientific research questions are resolved, the ques- 

 tion is whether the legal status of the economic zone remains that 

 of high seas. 



• Access of landlocked and geographically disadvantaged states to 

 fisheries in the economic zones of their neighbors. — The land- 

 locked states are numerous, and an increasing number of states, 

 both developed and developing, regard themselves as 

 geographically disadvantaged. 



• Right of access to the sea for landlocked states. — While, in princi- 

 ple there is agreement, the strength and scope of the "right" are 

 matters of contention among concerned states. 



• Highly migratory species, such as tuna. — No complete meeting of 

 the minds has yet been reached on this issue, although positions 

 are closer. It seems that an organization to establish mandatory 

 conservation measures would be broadly acceptable, but there is 

 still disagreement as to whether other measures, including alloca- 

 tion, adopted by such an organization would be mandatory. 



• Delimitation of the outer boundary of the Continental Shelf and 

 revenue sharing. — While no agreement has yet emerged on Conti- 

 nental Shelf jurisdiction beyond 200 miles, it is increasingly recog- 

 nized within the conference that coastal state jurisdiction to a pre- 

 cisely defined limit of the margin beyond 200 miles coupled with 



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