126 



floor of the sea in areas of the liigli seas ad- 

 jacent to the territorial sea of a State may 

 be undertaken by that Slate where such 

 fisheries have long l)ecn maintained and con- 

 ducted by its nationals, provided that non- 

 nationals are permitted to participate in such 

 activities on an equal footing with nationals 

 except in areas where such fisheries have by 

 long usage lx;en exclusively enjoyed by such 

 nationals. Such regulations will not, how- 

 ever, adcct the general status of the areas as 

 high seas. 



2. In this article, the expression "fisheries 

 conducted by means of equipment em- 

 bedded in the floor of the sea" means those 



fisheries using gear with supporting mem- 

 bers embedded in the sea floor, constructed 

 on a site and left there to operate perma- 

 nently or, if removed, restored each season 

 on the same site. 



Article 14 



In articles i, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8, the term 

 "nationals" means fishing boats or craft of 

 any size having the nationality of the State 

 concerned, according to the law of that 

 State, irrespective of the nationality of the 

 members of their crews. 



[Articles 15 to 22 inclusive are procedural 

 in nature and have been omitted.] 



E. OPTIONAL PROTOCOL OF SIGNATURE CONCERNING THE 

 COMPULSORY SETTLEMENT OF DISPUTES" 



The States parties to this Protocol and to 

 any one or more of the Conventions on the 

 Law of the Sea adopted by the United Na- 

 tions Conference on the Law of the Sea 

 held at Geneva from 24 February to 27 April 

 1958, 



Expressing their wish to resort, in all 

 matters concerning them in respect of any 

 dispute arising out of the interpretation or 

 application of any article of any Convention 

 on the Law of the Sea of 29 April 1958, to 

 the compulsory jurisdicdon of the Interna- 

 tional Court of Justice, unless some other 

 form of setdement is provided in the Con- 

 vention or has been agreed upon by the 

 parties within a reasonable period, 



Have agreed as follows: 



Article I 



Disputes arising out of the interpretation 

 or application of any Convention on the 



5. Adopted Apr. 26, 1958 (U.N, Doc, A/Con£. 

 '3A.57). . 



Law of the Sea shall lie within the compul- 

 sory jurisdiction of the International Court 

 of Justice, and may accordingly be brought 

 before the Court by an application made by 

 any party to the dispute being a party to this 

 Protocol, 



Article II 



This undertaking relates to all the provi- 

 sions of any Convention on the Law of the 

 Sea except, in the Convention on Fishing 

 and Conservation of the Living Resources 

 of the High Seas, articles 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8, to 

 which articles 9, 10, 11 and 12 of that Con- 

 vention remain applicable. 



Article III 



The parties may agree, within a period of 

 two months after one party has notified its 

 opinion to the other that a dispute exists, to 

 resort not to the International Court of Jus- 

 tice but to an arbitral tribunal. After the 

 expiry of the said period, either party to 



