territorial sea.' The use of a system of straight 

 basehnes converts into "internal waters" broad 

 stretches of waters which were formerly part of 

 the territorial sea or of the high seas, with a 

 resulting outward thrust of the territorial sea. 



The principal limitation upon the sovereignty 

 of the coastal State over its territorial sea is the 

 "right of innocent passage through the territorial 

 sea" accorded to ships, including warships, of all 

 States.'" There is no right of innocent passage, 

 however, through the internal waters of a State, 

 unless these waters previously had been considered 

 as part of the territorial sea or of the high seas and 

 became internal waters only as the result of the 

 use of a system of straight baselines.' ' 



Except as it may be limited by treaty, each 

 coastal State has the capacity under international 

 law to prescribe or enforce its rules of law in its 

 internal waters and territorial sea, and it also has 

 permanent, exclusive access to the living and 

 non-hving resources found in its internal waters or 

 territorial sea, including the resources of the beds 

 and the subsoil thereunder. It may exclude whom- 

 ever it wishes from exploring or exploiting any 

 resources in these waters. These claims of the 

 coastal State are recognized even with respect to 

 living resources which roam the high seas, so long 

 as they may be found in territorial waters. 



The Convention on the Territorial Sea and the 

 Contiguous Zone also makes it clear that foreign 

 fishing vessels exercising the right of innocent 

 passage must "observe such laws and regulations as 

 the coastal State may make and pubhsh in order to 

 prevent these vessels from fishing in the territorial 

 sea."'^ The United States has enacted such laws 

 and regulations. The Act of May 20, 1964, 

 provides in part: 



It is unlawful for any vessel except a vessel of the 

 United States, or for any master or other person in 

 charge of such vessel, to engage in the fisheries 

 within the territorial waters of the United States, 

 its territories and possessions and the Common- 

 wealth of Puerto Rico, or within any waters in 

 which the United States has the same rights in 

 respect to fisheries as it has in its territorial waters 



"Id., Part I, Sec. II, Art. 4. 



. . . except as provided in this Act or as expressly 

 provided in an international agreement to which 

 the United States is a party .... ' ^ 



Whenever such action is in the national interest, 

 the Secretaries of State and the Treasury are 

 authorized to allow foreign vessels to fish in the 

 waters from which they are otherwise excluded. 



B. Contiguous Zone 



The Convention on the High Seas defines the 

 "high seas" to include "all parts of the sea that are 

 not included in the territorial sea or in the internal 

 waters of a State," and proclaims that they are 

 "open to all nations" and "no State may validly 

 purport to subject any part of them to its 

 sovereignty."'" However, the Convention on the 

 Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone specifies 

 that within a zone of the high seas contiguous to 

 its territorial sea, each coastal State may exercise 

 the control necessary to (1) "Prevent infringement 

 of its customs, fiscal, immigration or sanitary 

 regulations within its territory or territorial sea," 

 and (2) "Punish infringement of the above regula- 

 tions committed within its territory or territorial 

 sea."" The breadth of the contiguous zone, 

 however, "may not extend beyond twelve miles 

 from the baseline from which the breadth of the 

 territorial sea is measured."' * 



While the Convention seems to restrict the 

 purposes for which the coastal State may exercise 

 control in the contiguous zone, the coastal State's 

 authority is not, in fact, so limited. So far as the 

 exploration and exploitation of mineral resources 

 is concerned, this Convention must be read to- 

 gether with the Convention on the Continental 

 Shelf, which is controlling. So far as the exploita- 

 tion of living resources is concerned, the import of 

 the Convention on the Territorial Sea and the 

 Contiguous Zone is lessened by the lack of 



Id., Part I, Sec. Ill, Sub-sec. A, Art. 14. 

 'W., Part I, Sec. I, Art. 5 (2). 

 ^Id., Part I, Sec. Ill, Sub-sec. A, Art. 14(5). 



'^78 Stat. 194 (1964), 16 U.S.C.A §1081 (Supp. 

 1964). Persons violating the Act are subject to fines not 

 exceeding $10,000 or imprisonment not exceeding one 

 year, or both. The violating vessel and its equipment are 

 also subject to forfeiture. 



Convention on the High Seas, adopted by the United 

 Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, April 29, 

 1958, Arts. 1 and 2. The Convention became effective in 

 1962. 13 U.S.T. 2313, T.I.A.S. No. 5200, UN Doc. 

 A/CONF. 13/L.53 and Corr. 1 (1958). 



Convention on the Territorial Sea and the Con- 

 tiguous Zone, Part I, Art. 24 (1). 



16 



Id., Part II, Art. 24 (2). 



VIII-12 



