600 
natural resources of the submarine areas be protected to the full ex- 
tent permitted by the 1958 Convention on the Continental Shelf." 
1968 Report of the Sections 
The 1968 Section Report says this: 
"Interpretations of the Convention 
"The Convention's definition of the seaward .extent of the coastal 
state's jurisdiction has been subjected to a number of interpretations. 
"Some argue that the factor of exploitability would carry the 
coastal nation's exclusive mineral jurisdiction to mid-ocean. We dis- 
agree. Others argue that it should be restricted to waters as shallow 
as 200 meters or 12 miles from shore. We disagree with this, too. 
"The better view, in our opinion, is that the 'exploitability' 
factor of the Convention is limited by the element of 'adjacency.' 
- The exclusive sovereign rights of the coastal nations to the explora- 
tion and exploitation of the natural resources of the seabed and sub- 
soil encompass 'the submarine areas adjacent to the coast but out- 
side the area of the territorial sea.' According to this view, there- 
fore, the exclusive sovereign rights of the coastal nations with respect 
to the seabed minerals now embrace the submerged land mass of the 
adjacent continent down to its junction with the deep ocean floor, ir- 
respective of depth. ''* 
*This whole matter has been under further and exhaustive review in 
1969 by the Committee on Oceanography of the Section of International and 
Comparative Law, and the Committee on Marine Resources of the Section 
of Natural Resources Law. A Draft Joint Report has been prepared for sub- 
mission to the Councils of the respective Sections at the August 1969 meeting 
of the American Bar Association. It reaches the same general conclusions as 
the 1968 Report, but, with respect to the cited sentence of the 1968 text, says: 
"The quoted conclusion, which reflects the ‘continental margin’ 
interpretation of the Convention, represented and continues to repre- 
“sent an opinion widely held among our members. — 
"Since the 1968 Joint Report, however, a number of our mem- 
bers have stated that this formulation did not accurately reflect their 
views. Inthe opinion of these members, the physical concept of ‘ad- 
jacency' can persuasively be construed to embrace areas to the foot 
of the continental margin; but the 'exploitability' concept in the Con- 
(Footnote continued next page. ) 
