93. Who owns the water areas offshore and how far? 



Ownership of offshore waters is one of the major problenns to be re- 

 solved before the sea can be exploited peacefully. No country owns the 

 floor of the open ocean. In the past, the traditional limit was 3 

 nautical miles, the effective distance a cannonbali could be fired in the 

 days of sailing vessels. 



Now nations choose a distance between 3 and 12 miles from their 

 shores. Within these limits they may exercise control of shipping; there 

 is, however, no clear requirement for other nations to recognize this 

 sovereignty. The United States recently changed its territorial water 

 claim from 3 to 12 miles. 



Although waters were orig- J^ 



inally designated territorial for -v. ^ i cBi 



defense purposes, nations are -^ -^>- 



now also concerned with pro- 

 tecting their fishing and min- 

 eral rights. The continental 

 shelves are important for fu- 

 ture harvest of marine life 

 and minerals. The Geneva 

 Convention of 1958 provides 

 for a nation the sovereignty over its continental shelf to a depth of 200 

 meters or to the depth of exploitation of natural resources. Several 

 Latin American countries have made claims of exclusive fishing rights to 

 a distance of 200 miles from their coasts. 



Burke, William T. 



"Legal Aspects of Ocean Exploitation," Transactions of the 2nd 



Annual MTS Conference, Marine Technology Society, Washington, 



D. C, 1966. 

 Pell, Claiborne (Senator) 



Challenge of the Seven Seas, William Morrow and Company, 1966. 

 U. S. Department ot State 



Sovereignty of the Sea, Geographic Bulletin No. 3, April 1955. 



112 



