surmounted by new attempts to define "fisheries 

 research" restrictively. We have no alternative to 

 propose to the State Department's informal defini- 

 tion. There is need in this area for a new 

 international convention of the kind recommended 

 below; pending the negotiation of such an agree- 

 ment, however, the panel recommends that the 

 United States should define "fishery research" so 

 that foreign scientists will not require its consent 

 to conduct research (including the limited taking 

 of fish specimens) in its exclusive fisheries zone for 

 the purpose of facUitating the utilization of fish 

 exploited wholly or in large part outside the zone. 



No interest of the United States will be affected 

 adversely by such a unilateral concession. Such a 

 step may encourage other coastal States to recipro- 

 cate and all fishing States will benefit. 



Furthermore, to encourage international scien- 

 tific cooperation in fishery research, the United 

 States should announce that (a) it wiU consent, 

 upon proper notice, to the conduct, in its exclu- 

 sive fisheries zone, of such research (including the 

 limited taking of fish specimens) which is part of 

 an international cooperative project sponsored or 

 endorsed by IOC; and (b) in return for such 

 consent, it will require that (1) it be given the 

 right, if it so desires, to participate or to be 

 represented in the research; (2) the results of the 

 research shall be pubUshed; and (3) upon its 

 request, the basic data acquired shall be made 

 available to it. 



C. Research Concerning the Continental Shelf 



1. Restrictions on Research Imposed by Conven- 

 tion on the Continental Shelf 



This Convention "introduced restrictions on 

 the conduct of scientific research previously un- 

 known in international law."'* The freedoms of 

 the high seas recognized by international law 

 include the freedom to conduct scientific research, 

 including inquiries concerning the bed of the high 

 seas and its subsoil. While the Convention provides 

 that the coastal State's exploration of the conti- 

 nental shelf and the exploitation of its natural 

 resources "must not . . . result in any interference 

 with fundamental oceanographic or other scien- 

 tific research carried out with the intention of 



open publication,"" it also provides that the 

 prior consent of the coastal State must be ob- 

 tained for "any research concerning the conti- 

 nental shelf and undertaken there. "^^ However, 

 the coastal State is enjoined not to "normally with- 

 hold its consent if the request is submitted by a 

 qualified institution with a view to purely scien- 

 tific research into the physical or biological charac- 

 teristics of the continental shelf, subject to the 

 proviso that the coastal State shall have the right, 

 if it so desires, to participate or to be represented 

 in the research, and that in any event the results 

 shall be pubhshed."^ ' 



2. Difficulties Raised by Provisions of Convention 



There are many ambiguous provisions in the 

 Convention which may be interpreted by coastal 

 States to enlarge the restrictions on scientific 

 inquiry. What is research "concerning" the conti- 

 nental shelf? When is such research "undertaken 

 there"? When are conditions not "normal" so that 

 the coastal State may withhold its consent? What 

 is a "quahfied institution"? What is "purely" 

 scientific research? Does the Convention— or cus- 

 tomary international law— require the prior con- 

 sent of the coastal State for the use in the waters 

 above the continental shelf of equipment, such as 

 "photographic" sonar, which serves both scientific 

 (geological research) and commercial (oil explora- 

 tion) purposes? What is the line between "explor- 

 ing" the continental shelf, for the purpose of 

 which the coastal State exercises "sovereign 

 rights" under Article 2 of the Convention and 

 "fundamental oceanographic or other scientific 

 research" with which neither the exploration of 

 the continental shelf nor the exploitation of its 

 natural resources may interfere?^ ^ 



Dr. Schaefer also emphasizes that the length and 

 uncertainty of time required to obtain permission 

 from the coastal State may also deter scientific 

 inquiry on and concerning the continental shelf. 

 These factors militate against "rapid exploitation 



18 



Burke, supra note 5, at 37. 



'^Convention on the Continental Shelf, Art. 5 (1). 

 ^"W., Art. 5 (8). 



^^See Burke, supra note 8, at 216-17; and generally, 

 McDougal and Burke, The Public Order of the Oceans 

 701-02, 713-16, 721-24 (1962). 



vni-74 



