Worldwide Report: Law of the Sea No. 213

JPRS 82268

18 November 1982

Worldwide Report

LAW OF THE SEA

No. 213

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JPRS 82268

18 November 1982

WORLDWIDE REPORT
LAW OF THE SEA

No. 213
CONTENTS
ASIA
AUSTRALIA
Briefs
Soviet Cocos Islands Incident 1
Fishing Pact With Thailand 1
Fishing Agreement With Japan 2
PHILIPPINES
Sea Safety Pact Signed With Japan
(BULLETIN TODAY, 30 Oct 82) e*eeeneeneneneneeneneneneeneneenrteneeneneeneneee#e see 3
Japanese Boat Held for Illegal Fishing
(Wilma Tamzon; BULLETIN TODAY, 1 Nov 82) .......seeeeeeeeees 4
LATIN AMERICA
ARGENTINA
Briefs
Fish Catch Rises 5
BERMUDA
Marine Environment Study Completed, Offers Proposals
(ROYAL GAZETTE, 8 Oct 82) .....eeeees eoccccccccesccoes eeccce 6
COLOMBIA .
LOS Diplomat on Relations With Venezuela
(EL TIEMPO, 4 Oct 82) *eeeveeeneneneeeneneeneeeeeeneneewmeeeeeeeeeee see 8

-a- [III - WW - 136]

JAMAICA

Shearer Calls for Ratification of Law of the Sea

(DAILY GLEANER, 8 Oct 82) ......cccccccccccccccceveses

Jamaica Reports Preparations for ISA Officers

RGM, De OGG GE? cicn svedeca sons ceesesatecsecess

WEST EUROPE
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

Spanish Fishermen Protest French Policy in Bay of Biscay

(Ignacio Alonso; EL PAIS, 16 Oct 82) ................

FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY

Commettator Recommends Government Not Sign LOS Treaty
(Klaus Broichhausen; FRANXFURTHER ALLGFEMEINE, 11 Sep 82) ...

10

12

13

15

AUSTRALIA

BRIEFS

SOVIET COCOS ISLANDS INCIDENT--THE Federal Government has lodged a protest
with the Soviet embassy in Canberra over the behavior of the captain of a
Russian research vessel. The vessel, Antaris, called at the Cocos Islands,

an Australian-administered group of 27 atolls in the central Indian Ocean,
late last month. The captain told local officials the Antaris had engine
trouble and he wanted to carry out repairs. The officials directed the cap-
tain repeatedly to a safe anchorage on South Keeling Island. The captain
refused and moored his ship on North Keeling Island. Both islands are part

of the Cocos group. A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs in
Canberra said yesterday the Government was concerned over the captain's de-
fiant action and the incident had been taken up with the Soviet embassy. The
Minister for Home Affairs and the Environment, Mr McVeigh, confirmed last week
that Cabinet had discussed sightings of Soviet submarines in the area. The
Cocos Islands, which will become an overseas territory of Australia next year
after a UN supervised act of self determination for the 320 Cocos Malays, have
great strategic significance fot the Western alliance. The airstrip on West
Island is used by the RAAF as a staging base for reconnaissance flights in the
central Indian Ocean and by the US Air Force staging through to Diego Garcia.
[Canberra THE AUSTRALIAN in English 22 Sep 82 p 3]

FISHING PACT WITH THAILAND--3ANGKOK, Wednesday--Captains of Thai fishing
trawlers and their crews are being instructed in inteinational law and codes
of seagoing behaviour before they begin fishing in Australian waters. The
Royal Thai Navy is conducting the courses, the managing director of a Thai-
Australian fishing company, Mr Graeme Mathieson, said today. He said his com-
pany, Coldstream International Corporation Ltd, hoped to begin trawling in the
Arafura Sea in the next few weeks. Anthorities in Queensland, Western Aus-
tralia and the Northern Territory had approved, and authorisation from Can-
berra was expected any day now. Mr Mathieson said his agreement with the Aus-
tralian authorities was a normal one for this type of oneration, giving his
fleet an annual catch quota worth perhaps nearly $20 million. All the catch
would be landed in Australia and sold there. Australian officials indicated
earlier that the project envisaged landing only a small proportion of the
catch, with the bulk being shipped directly to a number of Asian countries

for processing. Mr Mathieson said all the catch would be sold in Darwin,
where there was adequate cold storage. Some would be exported, but all would
go out as an Australian export. There were plans later for a cannery in Dar-
win, Ultimately his compan,, which was 51 per cent Thai and the remainder
mainly Australian, would invest about $4 million in the project. Initially 30
Thai trawlers flying both the Thai and Australian flags would be fishing.
[Neil Kelly] [Sydney THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD in English 23 Sep 82 p 10]

CSO: 5200/7506

FISHING AGREEMENT WITH JAPAN--Australia and Japan have reached agreement on
longline tuna fishing in Australian waters for another 12 months. Minister
for Primary Industry Nixon says the agreement is still subject to formal
approval but is expected to come into effect on 1 November. Nixon says wider
the new agreement, Japan has confirmed that Australian cod tuma can be sold
in the Japanese market. He says that to avoid problems with Australian fisher-
men, an area off the north coast of New South Wales has been closed to
Japanese boats. The minister said in return for access to areas in the
Australian fishing zone, the Japanese had agreed to share any international
control restrictions on tuna catchers and to take account of recent expansion
of the Australian industry. [Text] [BK141333 Melbourne Overseas Service in
English 0830 GMT 13 Oct 82]

CSO: 5200/4302

SEA SAFETY

PACT SIGNED WITH JAPAN

Manila BULLETIN TODAY in English 30 Oct 82 p 23

[Text]

CSO:

5200/4303

The safety of ship-
ping lanes transitting
between the Philip-
pines and Japan was
further enhanced this
week with the conclu-
sion of the first bilater-
al conference between
the Philippine Coast
Guard and the
Japanese Maritime
Safety Agency.

With Minister
Nageo Hyodo and a
representative from
the local Ministry of
Foreign Affairs as wit-
nesses, top officers of
the two coast guard un-
ite signed an agree-
ment enumerating the
areas where they in-
tend to take joint or
complementary ac-

tions

Vice Admiral Shinji
Nakajima and Com-
modore Brillante C
Ochoco called their
agreement “guidelines

lor «perative efforts
between the Philippine
Coast Guard and the
Japanese Maritime
Safety Agency.”

The pact specifically
mentions maritime
safety, search and res-
cue, marine environ-
mental protection, aids
to navigation, train-
ing, exercises, and in-
ternational (SOLAS)
conventions as their
areas of mutual con-
cern.

Like the previous
PCG-US Coast Guard
agreement, the present
pact also provided for
un annual review of
their actions “to prom-
ote harmonious rela-
tions between the two
agencies, facilitate
solutions to common
problems, and contri-
bute to professional de-
velopment.”

PHILIPPINES

JAPANESE BOAT HELD FOR ILLEGAL FISHING

Manila BULLETIN TODAY in English 1 Nov 82 pp l, 9

[Article by Wilma Yamzon]

[Text]

CSO;

5200/4303

A Japanese fishing boat
was apprehended the
other day by the Philip-
pine Coast Guard and
Philippine Navy several
miles west of Balabac,
Palawan, for illegai entry
and fishing, the Phili
pine Coast Guard (PCG)

The PCG station in
Palawan said the opera-
tion group was on a patrol
aboard BRP Sultan
Kudarat Patrol Ship 22
when they spotted the
Japanese ship. They
found in its hold six tons
of fish.

In a report to PCG com-
mandant Brillante C.
Ochoco, Capt. Gil
Mariano, PCG 4th district
commander, said the ves-
sel's master alleged he
obtained a fishing permit
from the Palau Maritime
Authority signed by its
deputy director, Marh.-
ence Madranchar.

The vessel was deep in

the Philippine waters and
the permit was good only
in the jurisdiction of
Palau islands, Western

Carolines, in the Pacific,
not in the China Sea.
Kogi Kobune, ist

Macaru Oshiro,
Takeyoshe Nakasone,
Choei Fukuyuma, and
Hideo Kabashigawa.

between the
Philippine and Japan
Coast Guard was signed
for cooperation in rescue
and safety operations and
enforcement of maritime
laws. (Wilma Yamazon)

PHILIPPINES

ARGENTINA

BRIEFS

FISH CATCH RISES--The output of Argentina's fishing industry rose 60 percent
during the first half of this year as compared to the same period of 1981,

the maritime interests secretariat announced yesterday. The total catch during
the first six months of this year was 223,000 tons, and the official report
stresses that the production increased despite “operational difficulties” in

the sector as a result of the south Atlantic conflict with Britain. [Text]
[PY122353 Buenos Aires BUENOS AIRES HERALD in English 12 Oct 82 [page not given]
PY |

CSO: 5200/2001

MARINE ENVIRONMENT STUDY COMPLETED, OFFERS PROPOSALS

Hamilton ROYAL GAZETTE in English 8 Oct 82 p 3

{Text ]

A five-vear study into Bermuda's
inshore waters has concluded that
the Island's marine environment
faces no immediate threat —

rovided the “delicate balance”

etween Man and ocean is
preserved.

The report — the product of a Gov
ernment -sponsered research team
from the Bermuda Biological Station
aided by A scientists and eight uni-
versities — was presented by Dr. the
Hon. John Stubbs, Minister of
Agriculture and Fisheries at a press
conference held vesterday

He commented: “We cannot be
complacent about our marme environ:
ment but we can be cautiously op-
timistic.

The five-vear research programme
cost herween £05).000-400,000. Its re-
port points cut f=<< the outset: “After
five vears of intensive studies no clear
evidence of sugnificant sewage pollu-
tion has been found im the inshore
water —

Hut. it continues: “At present. the
marine environment copes adequately
with sewage inputs. However. the Ber.
muda manne ecosvstem is delicately

halanced and depends on many
equilibria.”

“An increased sewage input, or even
cominiation of the present imput.
may eventually lead to an unbalanced

<v-tem. with serious consquences for™

the local marine environment.”

The team has drawn up a series of
recommendations including steps to
control and eventually reduce sewage
input as well as other water quality
measurements and checks on the pres-
ence of items such as pesticides

(ther suggestions include:

* Short-term. intensive studies of hu-
man impact on Hamilton Harbour.

* Vearly surveillance. by helicopter
and diving. of Cladophora mats (the
prolitx green algee that caused con-
cern among environmental groups
alter its growth wncreased around Har.
nington Seund)

* Studies of phosphorus content de-
rived from detergents

¢ Hi-annual imvestigations of the
»»pulation of the calico clam

(ne of the general recommend.
atten in what im otherwme a very
technical renert is the development of
“to o« sensible solution to problems

BERMUDA

CSO:

caused by the airport dump and also
feasibility study on the possibility oi
replacing Cemepit> with «mall sewage
treatment units

Ir. Stubbs. eccAmpenied by
Agriculture and fisheries Directo: Dr
Idwalt Mughes. seed Government was
weighing up the vanous suggestions
He punted out thai several of the
recommendations, including the var-
ous studies, were already on line

Mr. Timothy ickells. an organic
chemist who helped draw up the re-
port. also. said that the detergent imsue
had been eased already by the use of
‘«tter detergents which had helped
reduce phy sphorus build-up

The study alx pinpoints why Ham-
iltun Harbodr appears green at times.
The odour change stems from season-
al phstoplankton blooms that seem to
laveur the harbour

The repert calls tor a coral reef
~tuchy useng the «ite where the vessel
Mari Heeing grounded. Blasting there
in 1979 to make a clear tow path for
the hull damaged a nearby reet and
has presented scientists with an “in-
valuable” oppertunity to see how
damaged HKermuda reets re-establish
themselves

5200/7507

COLOMBIA

LOS DIPLOMAT ON RELATIONS WITH VENEZUELA
Bogota EL TIEMPO in Spanish 4 Oct 82 p 14-B

[Text] The small Los Monjes islands make neither a continental shelf nor an ex-
clusive economic zone because the new international law establishes it that way,
said the chief of the Colombian delegation to the UN Conference on the Sea,
Hector Charry Samper.

In explaining the reaches of the UN Convention cf the Sea, Charry said that it
is the first time that maritime law, which previously was dictated by the great
powers, is going to be determined ty the UN wembers.

In this way, he emphasized, the countries of Latin America have made an impor-
tant contribution to this new law of the sea, or international law: they were
the first to establish the 200-mile limit as a national economic zone, one of
the fundamental clauses in the convention.

In statements on the program, "Five Reporters and the Personality of the Week"
from Caracol, the Colombian diplomat commented that the other consequence of the
new agreement is that new maritime dimensions have appeared: no longer is this
just a medium for navigation with fishing resources, but due to techno-scientific
advances, the possibility of marine mining is coming into play with multinational
enterprises which are now commercially exploiting those resources.

Moreover, the bases and criteria have been set for delimiting marine and subma-
rine areas in all cases concerning states with adjacent or opposing shorelines,
and a special court is being established, the International Court of the Sea,

7 which is going to replace the International Court of Justice in these matters
and which is going to take up delimitation problems and litigation.

Asked if the new agreement would restrict the law concerning keys in all seas
and if, in the case of Venezuela wich the Los Monjes, would it change eil the
ground rules in relation to the differences with Colombia, Charry Samper said:
“The Convention of the Sea establishes criteria for the d limitation of the
different marine spaces. In the first place, coastal spaces have an exclusive
economic zone up to 200 miles and beyond those 200 the zone is referred *o as
‘common heritage of mankind.’ This means there will be no exploitation of the
resources of the sea outside that authority without permission of the court
which is being set up in Jamaica for exploitation of polymetallic moduli wd

the wealth of the sea. But, it also means delimiting between states with
adjacent or opposing coasts. It is entirely a natural phenomenon, not a
desire or a claim by a neighbor. According to the convention, it is an
obligation of states to delimit their areas."

The Colombian ambassador insisted that delimitation is an obligation, because
if the countries with adjacent or opposing coasts do not do it, the authority
will not be able to come in to make use of the common heritage of mankind for
the benefit of the people.

He reaffirmed that the continental shelf is an important matter which establishes
a system of delimitation. "Territorial waters extend to 12 miles and, in the
case of delimitation between states with adjacent or opposing coastlines, the
average line is applied--a thesis to which Colombia has been traditionally
linked."

--Whomsoever does not subscribe to the new convention is not obliged .v fulfill
it. Then, what is going to happen with Venezuela?

"It is an internal decision about which I do not express an opinion and which I
deeply respect. International law has established bases which are fundamental

and which obligates them oftimes, even when states do not sign conventions. An
international law does exist which cannot be ignored by anyone."

--Whom does the convention most favor, Colombia or Venezuela?

"It seems to me that here are the facts. This is a convention with some pre-
cise rules that express the will of the international community. Colombia has
already acknowledged it, that which leans towards constitutional processes and
we put ourselves in the hands of international law."

--Does the Convention of the Sea establish a certain time limit for delimiting
areas?

"No. No time limit is fixed, but the convention does establish some rules about
what should be done when there is a controversy if no agreement has been reached.

It states that when an agreement has not been reached neither of the two parties
can do anything that would jeopardize the final negotiation, or that could mean
unilateral exploitation of the resources of the area in question."

Finally, Hector Charry characterized himself as a ‘thoughtful supporter" of Colom-
bia's entry into the Movement of the Non-Alined Countries and he said that the
government of President Belisario Betancur may have opened the deor for this
entry which, he said, will permit strengthening our negotiating power to defend
our interests.

9908
cso: 5200/2000

JAMAICA

SHEARER CALLS FOR RATIFICATION OF LAW OF THE SEA
FL111930 Kingston DAILY GLEANER in English 8 Oct 82 pp 1, 20

[Excerpts] Foreign Minister the Rt. Hon Hugh Shearer yesterday called for
early ratification by member states of the Law of the Sea Convention as he
delivered Jamaica's major policy address before the United Nations General
Assembly in P2s York.

He also expressed the hope that no country or group of countries would en-
gage in action or adopt measures that would undermine the convention.

The deputy prime minister said that Jamaica has a great sense of pride at
having been selected as the site of the international seabed authority, the
preparatory commission and the ceremony for the signing of the convention.

He said that it is essential that, consistent with the programme and ob-
jectives of the preparatory commission, adequate provision be made for its
effective functioning.

Mr Shearer said: "We exhort all states to sign and ratify the convention as
quickly as possible, so that it will enter into force in the shortest pos-
sible time. An early entry into force of the convention can only operate to
the advantage of all countries, developed and developing, particularly where
it deals with the regime for the exploration and exploitation of the deep
seabed.

“We would not wish anyone to be left in doubt as to our view that activities
in the international seabed area can only take place lawfully within the
framework established by the convention. We hope that no country or group of
countries will engage in action or adopt measures whose effect will be to
undermine the convention." [passage omitted]

He said that Jamaica was disappointed that the recent second special session
of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament failed to achieve any signifi-
cant results, particularly regarding a comprehensive programme of disarma-
ment.

Turning to economic issues, Mr Shearer said that Jamaica's analysis of the
global economy has highl‘ghted the need for immediate action. If the world
is to avert the collapse of the international systen.

10

"We are all agreed on the necessity to achieve a rate of economic growth con-
sistent with the aspirations of our peoples and the requirements for achieving
international peace and security,” he said.

"In seeking to fulfill these objectives, we must make a special appeal to the
developed countries to desist from the application of protectionist trade
policies,” he said.

Mr Shearer said that these policies, based on the experience of the 1930's,
have shown that measures to protect sectors in economies that have lost their
competitive edge in the international market place are self-defeating:

"They have only to contract international purchasing power and generate un-
employment in their own economies as well as in the economies of the develop-
ing world that provide markets for their exports."

Mr Shearer said that Jamaica is firm in the view that it is the market-place
and the work-place of the developing world which holds the best solution for
reflation without inflation:

"The unsatisfied and growing demands of the consumer market; the unsatisfied
and growing capabilities of the work force of a growing number of developing
countries need only the catalyst of expanded credit resources to fuel an
expansion of trade through exported growth."

He said that Jamaica commended for the consideration of the General Assembly
the essential features of Prime Minister Edward Seaga's presentation on the
subject at the recent joint meeting of the World Bank and the International
Monetary Fund in Toronto, Canada.

Mr Shearer said that the proposed global round of negotiations, which has
been under consideration for the past three years, must now be recognized as

offering the best prospect of bringing about the changes required to estab-
lish an economic system which can fulfill "the aspirations of our time."

CSO: 5200/2002

11

JAMAICA

JAMAICA REPORTS PREPARATIONS FOR ISA OFFICES
Bridgetown CANA in English 2044 GMT 30 Oct 82

[Text] Kingston, Jamaica, 30 Oct (CANA)—Jamaica's preparations to host
the headquarters of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) as well as the
signing in early December of the Law of Sea Convention, have received full
approval from a United Nations review mission that visited the island re-
cently, a statement from the Foreign Ministry here has said.

The island was earlier this year selected as the site for the ISA head-
quarters, the body that will over see the implementation of the convention,
and a temporary headquarters is being built on the Kingston waterfront.

The building is expected to be completely ready in time for the first meet-
ing of the ISA Preparatory Commission next March.

Additionally, Jamaica was recently named the venue for the signing of the
treaty after Venezuela withdrew.

The Foreign Ministry said that a seven-member mission from the United Nations
Conference on the Law of the SEA (UNCLOS) was here between 18 and 23 October,
visiting the temporary headquarters building and holding talks with govern-
ment officials and agencies which are responsible for its completion on time
and the smooth functioning of the facility.

The mission also reviewed planning for the signing session of the Law of the
Sea Convention in the northwestern city of Montego Bay, and on both counts
were satisfied, the Foreign Ministry said.

cso: 5200/2000

12

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

SPANISH FISH™RMEN PROTEST FRENCH POLICY IN BAY OF BISCAY
Madrid EL PAIS in Spanish 16 Oct 82 p 42
[Article by Ignacio Alonso]

[Text] Shipowners of Spanish fishing boats accuse the French minister of
Maritime Affairs Louis Le Pensec, of demagogic practices, and they make the
accusation that the French fishing policy is directed toward delaying the
admission of Spain into the EEC and reducing the strength of our fleet in
European waters, which would make easier the massive penetration of Gallic
products into the peninsular market

The French minister of Maritime Affairs, Louis Le Pensec, threatened at the
beginning of the month in Luxemburg to reject any fishing agreement between
Spain and the EEC for 1983 if guarantees were not obtained that the Spanish
vessels will respect community regulations and will give up unauthorized
fishing in the Bay of Biscay.

The Spanish reply, through the Spanish Federation of Shipowners of Fishing
Boats and the Association of Shipowners of Pasajes, was not long in coming.
The Spanish federation accuses Le Pensec of wanting to hide with his words

the French intention of reducing the streng‘:-h of the Spanish fleet to the
advantage of his own fleet, and to introduce their produce easily in our market
which is eager for marine products. The shipowners of Pasajes are protesting
because of the effort made to adapt their fleet to the licenses that the

EEC is offering and because of the lack of respect toward their wishes. "We
believe," they say in a letter remitted to Louis Le Pensec, “that the measure
announced by the French Government does not value the considerable effort

made by the shipowning sector of this port of Pasajes, and we hope that they
will consider our situation."
The Federation of Shipowners goes further, and not only does it directiy
reject the accusation that the Spanish vessels do not respect community
regulations, but it also transfers the accusation of unauthorized fishing

to the French fleet itself. The shipowners believe that the opportunities

for breaking the EEC's fishing regulations are minimal, and they describe

in detail that a Spanish vessel, in the case of transgressing the EEC's rules,
is punished twice, because first a fine is imposed on it and afterwards the
community itself withdraws its fishing license from it.

13

On the list of community contradictions, the shipowners assert that the
Spanish fishing vessel "Martimunc Segundo” had its right to a community
license suspended for 12 months on the claim that it was seen and photo-
graphed fishing in community waters last 20 February. And on that date the
boat was moored in the port of Pasajes.

Behind the statements of the French minister, the shipowners understand

that there is hidden the intention to limit, at the next negotiation of the
fishing agreements between Spain and the EEC (which begins next month), the
number of boulter vessels, the skill of selective fishing toward which many
Spanish trawlers evolved in recent years. The aim in all cases is the same:
to increase the power of the French fleet and to easily introduce fish in
the Spanish market. At the present time, the number of community licenses
has reached 128.

Confrontations in Galicia

Directors of the Association of Shipowners of the Galician trawler fleet

were studying at the last minute on Wednesday night the possibility of
revoking the announced mooring of the 160 vessels that are operating with

this type of fishing in Galicia, after participating in a meeting called by
the Fishing Council of Xunta, which was also attended by representatives of
the boulter method fleet. Trawler and boulter fishermen maintain a con-
frontational attitude about the opportuneness of a ministerial order of last
February, by which the prohibition on boulter fishing on the Galician conti-
nental platform, which is only 17 miles wide, was extended to depths less than
200 meters, reports ANXEL VENCE.

Moreover, the Catalonian fishermen will respect the agreements signed with
the Basques on tuna fishing, as has been announced by the fishing director
of the Basque government, Miguel Muruaga, regarding the conflict that has

arisen because of the presence of the Basque fleet in Mediterranean waters.

The above mentioned agreement establishes that the Basque fleet will engage
in tuna fishing in those waters under the standards and rules for fishing

of those associations. This agreement was contested by some associations in
the Mediterranean, which provoked the government fishing authorities into
sending telegrams to the parties in conflict, ordering them to allow the
Basque fleet to fish provided that it complies with the agreement in all its
conditions.

The Spanish fishing boats "Maflor", "Mariscos Rodriguez 1" and "Virgen de la
Palma", seized last week by Portuguese patrol motor launches, returned to
Isla Cristina after paying 170,000 pesetas for each boat as a fine for
fishing in waters too close to the coast of Portugal.

The six Spanish fishing boats seized by Morocco last week are presently
in the military zone of the port of Casablanca.

9545
CSO: 5200/2503

14

FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY

COMMENTATOR RECOMMENDS GOVERNMENT NOT SIGN LOS TREATY
Frankfurt/Main FRANKFURTHER ALLGEMEINE in German 11 Sep 82 p 13
[Article by Klaus Broichhausen: "The Dispute Over the Riches of the Sea™]

[Text] The International Law of the Sea Conference, a mam-
moth undertaking of 160 countries, was the most expensive
and longest conference of the United Nations. After its
close it is completely unclear what will become of the new
Law of the Sea Convention which the conference adopted in
the spring and which will be presented for formal signing
after the end of the year. No one knows what the paper,
described as having 320 articles, 9 annexes and 5 resolutions,
is worth as the result of 9 years of conferences. President
Reagan has already pushed it aside as unusable. The Federal
Government still does not know what to decide. Developing
countries increasingly notice that the convention, forced
through with a Third World majority, was a wild goose

chase for them, for only a few developing countries can
derive any benefits {rom it.

If so many questions are touched upon in a conference, it cannot be only a
matter for experts on the law of the sea. The new convention concerns every-
one. In particular it does not concentrate, like the regime currently in
force, on pure law of the sea matters, but spills over into a comprehensive re-
gime of the law and exploitation of the seas. This significance of the mara-
thon conference was for years not perceived, either by the public at large or
by the political leadership in Bonn. In the interior of Germany far too little
attention was paid to how important it is for the Federal Republic, as an
industrial state which depends on foreign trade and does not have enough of its
own raw materials and energy, to be able economically to exploit the seas re-
sponsibly but with as much freedom as possible.

The exploitation of the sea is to be regulated anew from the legal, political,
economic, ecological and strategic standpoints through the supplementary law
of the Law of the Sea Convention. It involves the redistribution of the ex-
ploitation right to 70 percent of the earth's surface. With all its reserves
of food, energy, and raw materials, the sea is again divided among the commun-
ity of states. The title "Law of the Sea Convention" does not do justice to
this global precedent. It is really much more of a world economic convention
for the seas. In addition to economic and transportation policy, the raw
materials and technology policies are especially covered, along with security

15

and foreign policy. Since security interests are as much at stake as the
economic interests of the Federal Republic, the Federal Government since the
beginning of the conference has had to be particularly alert with the partners
in the alliance lest the naval radius of defense be cut by the convention.

One question after another has been raised since the work was done in expert
circles and in the conference hall to develop the narrowly defined law of the
sea into a comprehensive legal system for navigation, fishing, oceanography,
environmental protection, and for the deep seabed mining due to begin in the
middle of the 1990's. Does the German merchant fleet, as an important service
branch of a strongly export-oriented and import-dependent country, have enough
space and loading possibilities in international transportation? Will we also
in the future be supplied with fish at a more or less reasonable price? In
the future will all states be able jointly to prevent the pollution of the
sea? Can the successful German tradition of oceanographic research be contin-
ued? Will it be possible for the Federal Republic, poor in raw materials, to
utilize the advanced position it has achieved in marine technology to improve
its supply of industrially important nonferrous metais from the deposits at
the bottom of the sea? Or is an economically feasible production of these raw
materials, which lie in potato-sized manganese nodules on the sea bottom, to
be denied to it?

To a part of these questions the text of the convention gives more or less
satisfactory answers. This affects international navigation, which, despite

a host of possibilities of coastal states to interfere, has been provided ade-
quate freedom of movement. The new law of the sea would grant free navigation
even to the navy in all waters outside the zone of sovereignty, which is
extended from 3 to 12 nautical miles. Corresponding to the right of passage
for merchant and naval navigation, air traffic is to be given unobstructed
overflight. For the more than 100 straits in the world, complicated regula-
tions have been detailed which indubitably confer on ships and cargoes of all
sorts the right of transit in so-called transit straits. The air space above
such straits may be overflown by both civilian and military aircraft.

Along with these regulations in the general law of the sea, which satisfy the
requirements of the Federal Republic by and large, that part of the convention
devoted to marine environmental protection can also be judged positively.
Ships are resolutely prevented from discharging harmful materials and pollu-
tants into the sea. Environmental violators on the ocean are to be heavily
fined. The control and prevention methods provided for the protection of the
sea are, as a whole, without being diverted into perfectionism, so broad that
they should be rwre effective than the environmental protection on land across
frontiers. Another advance in the law of the sea is the fact that in cases of
dispute the international arhitration and legal settlement of disputes will
gain more binding authority through the new institution of a court of the law
of the sea.

The Federal Republic Gets Only a Sliver

For the Federal Republic these are however the only satisfactory results of
the Law of the Sea Conference. The Federal Republic experienced its first
great disappointment already in the early stage of the conference in the

16

redivision of the seas; for it gets only a sliver of the fish stocks and of
the enormous reserves of oil and gas in the sea. The fishing grounds lie 80

percent and the oil deposits 90 percent within the 200-mile zone, over which
only the coastal states have the power of disposal. Their jurisdiction is
extended even beyond the so-called economic zone and onto the continental
shelf, and “mountain ranges" in the middle of the oceans. The sphere of in-
fluence of the coastal states is to end finally at a maximum of 350 nautical
miles.

it now depends or the good will of the haves whether German high seas fish-
eries can go out fishing and maintain the fish supply under economic condi-
tions. Even German oceanography--the prerequisite for intelligent exploita-
tion of the s”a--is possible in the economic zones only if the coastal states
agree. German interests are therefore demonstrably the loser in the embitter-
ed distribution battle in the Law of the Sea Conference. Even if the inter-
ests of the Federal Republic in this redistribution conference had been more
stubbornly and imaginatively defended, the convention would not have looked
much more favorable under this heading. As a country with a short coastline
the Federal Republic, like other states in a disadvantageous geographic
position, could not have been awarded any broad economic zone. The so-called
long coastline states and countries with islands on the other hand are by
nature the winners of the law of the sea conference. France is an example.
Favored by its island colonial possessions, it is awarded 30 times as much
sea space. A small group of 10 states with a long coastline has a legal grip
on more than 50 percent of all economic zones. "The states with long coast-
lines," complains the Schleswig-Holstein economics minister Juergen Westphal,
“are intolerably favored with their own sea space and their own reserves at
the expense of the remaining states, while the other countries over the long
run are cut off from the blessings of the sea."

Since the coastal states can claim so much space from their shores, the free-
dom of the seas, as Hugo Grotius, one of the ancestors of the law of the sea

in the 17th Century appreciated, is lost by a nautical mile. When the Law of
the Sea Conference distributed sovereignty and exploitation rights too gener-
ously to the coastal states, it departed far from its original course, which

was wrapped up in the slogan: The sea is the common inheritance of mankind;

it belongs to all peoples. Instead it has now been nationalized even beyond

the traditional three-mile sovereignty zone. On the ocean the greatest land

grab in world history is taking place.

The convention of course is only sanctioning a development which had long been
under way. One country after another began to confiscate sea space off its
coast and place it under its nationai jurisdiction. There was nothing left
for the Law of the Sea Conference to do but confirm accomplished facts and
legally assign to the coastal states what they had already taken for them-
selves: the economically most valuable and most easily accessible resources
of the sea. The new law of the sea can only prevent coastal states from con-
tinuing their confiscations of sea space. An amended convention at least
justifies the hope, as Federal Foreign Minister Genscher says, that the anar-
chy which has prevailed for years on world seas will stop. Indisputably
legal security must be restored and new conflicts headed off.

17

On the other hand, buried in the text of the convention itself there is much
fuel for conflict, which is already being ignited before the results of the
conference have even received the force of law. Thus there is a basis for war
over the Falkland Islands in the fact that Great Britain and Argentina both
want to keep the oil and gas-bearing economic zone around the miserable island.
The exploitation rights falling to the islands reach as far as the mineral-
rich Antarctic. The new law of the sea space regime has similarly burdened

the Aegean with the potential for conflict. Disputes may also result from the
territorial expansion elsewhere, whether in the Caribbean or in the peripheral
seas of East Asia.

After the riches off the coasts were distributed through nationalization, the
battle for the treasures of the ocean in the rest of the high seas broke out
in the final phase of the Law of the Sea Conference. While the water space
will remain open sea, the ores detected in the nodules on the sea bottom,
whether manganese, nickel, cobalt, or copper, are to be placed by the Law of
the Sea Conference under the custody of the United Nations. In this titanic
struggle over future deep sea mining, the stake for the Federal Republic is
not only the manganese nodules as a welcome reserve of raw material, and not
only additional export opportunities for German industry with a new technology
for the mining of the nodules. At the same time the market economy as a basis
of world economic cooperation is being debated. The majority of the confer-
ence, led on by the Third World, wants to throw market economics overboard.
The developing countries insist on state-directed experiments in seabed min-
ing, although so many of them have in the meantime accumulated bad experiences
in their own countries with planned economy models.

Even The Third World Would Do Better With Private Initiative

The states of the Third World, as has been often demonstrated, develop more
rapidly if they are oriented toward ‘he market economy at least in the be-
ginning. They do better with more private and less state initiative. Sea
mining, as a great asset of international division of labor, would have to be
carried out with as much private economic initiative as possible. It can pro-
ceed certainly only within a firm framework of regulations. Within this
framework the developing countries must have a chance to participate appro-
priate to the riches of the sea. The basic capital for this sea mining is
nevertheless to come from supplie'rs of capital the world over, who must re-
gard the prospect as enticing in order to provide the many billions necessary
for the economic and technological adventure of deep sea mining. It would be
a mistake to assume that this new and unusual task in the i-~*+rest of mankind
can be mastered only by states, organizations of states, and international
organizations, at least under the domination of state or supranational author-
ities. Sea mining needs adequate private, entrepreneurial pioneering spirit
and a sufficiently market oriented organization, not as a matter of ideology, |
but because it is more effective than all planned economy models.

The Third World om the other hand has devised a world raw materials bureavu-
cracy for sea mining. It is to be directed unilaterally by the developing
countries. Private initiative has only a marginal role in this so-called
"sea regime." As this regime has been negotiated in the Law of the Sea

18

Conference, the developing countries will hardly derive any benefit from it.
It would at the most help a few states in the traditional production of non-
ferrous metals. All in all the production of the resou~ces of the oceaa
would be more hindered than helped. Deep sea bed mining would be delayed and
made more expensive, and could perhaps even be crippled.

A series of obstacles have been built into the planned regulation of seabed
mining: 1. A superbureaucracy, a sea authority of the United Nations would
necessarily make deep sea mining cumbersome. 2. Private initiative would
have too little room alongside the sea authority's «wn mining undertaking
(Enterprise). 3. An economically stable development of the international
collective enterprise and the private and state mining companies working
parallel with it would be made impossible through irrelevant political influ-
ence by the authority. 4. The investment risk, which is extraordinarily high
in any case, would be even more discouraging through the price and quantity
regulations of this model. 5. Seabed mining is artificially to be limited
to take into account mining on dry land. 6. The economic feasibility of deep
seabed mining will be further jeopardized by the excessively high financial
fees which are to be paid by the licensees to the sea authority. Up to now
the demands have been so exorbitant that seabed mining cannot compete with
mining on dry land. 7. Even the development of modern marine technology
could not be amortized, since the marine technology industry is to be forced
to turn over to the seabed authority and interested parties of the Third
World the most up to date equipment at allegedly commercial, but nevertheless
on balance unsuitable prices.

All this involves too much protectionism, bureaucratic high-handedness, legal
and economic insecurity and political tumult. Completely new forms of state
economic planning are to be introduced into the world economic system through
the Law of the Sea Convention. If traditional raw materials production is

to be protected by preduction limitations in seabed mining against competition
from new mining areas, in this case on the seabed, it is highly questionable
economically and politically. One must also reject a new-style compulsory in-
dustry, which provides for delivery of technology at discount prices. The
right of ownership in the text ef the convention is grossly disregarded with
this summons to forced technological transfer. National technical develop-
ments are to be socialized internationally. Were all this to become reality
for the first time there would be practiced that new “world economic order"
which the Third World has been demanding for years at all conferences of the
United Nations: a comprehensive planned world economy. This “deep sea regime"
would be, as the Schleswig-Holstein Minister of Economics Westphal says, is an
historic decision to the extent “that the United Nations would for the first
time get an organization at its disposal which would receive supranational
management assignments and with the help of its own mining enterprise would
also be commercially active--a completely new development.”

The Federal Government and all parties in the Bunaestag have so far left no
doubt that they regard such a bureaucratic-planned economy structure--like an
octopus on seabed mining--as a mistake. Recently all the errors were listed
in a reply of the Federal Government to a major interpellation of the opposi-
tion. Nevertheless there are still advisers in Bonn who recommend the

19

signature of the convention on three grounds: First, the usable part of the
law of the sea is so important that the disadvantages in deep seabed mining
should be taken into the bargain. Secondly the relationship between the in-
dustrial nations and the developing countries should not be further burdened
by a crude rejection of the convention. Thirdly the Federal Republic can
secure a seat and a voice, and hence influence in the preparatory commission,
which makes important prior decisions for future sea mining.

These viewpoints are certain to be taken into account when the arguments for
or against accession to the convention are soon to be weighed in Bonn. But
in this regard the possibilities of changing the system in the preparatory
commission must be considered slight; for the ccwmission, like the plenum of
the Law of the Sea Conference, has a majority ot the developing countries, so
that the Federal Republic and other industrial states disillusioned over the
sea regime have practically no influence in it.

The West Cannot Overlook Reagan's Rejection

The key question in the decision on the convention must be: Can Bonn place
its signature on a draft treaty which the government and parliament consider
unacceptable in essential passages? The American President is logical on this
point. He does not sign what he considers to be false. The Federal Govern-
ment cannot ignore this clear No, since it fully shares Reagan's opinion on
deep seabed mining. Bonn must adjust itself to the idea likewise of not sign-
ing the convention. Nevertheless there is much in the meantime to discuss
with the Western partners, which “at the highest level" and even at the eummit
have altogether neglected or forgotten the Law of the Sea Conference.

The West should try once again to make a sincere attempt to arrive at a common
approach to the question of the seabed mining, and at the same time consult
with a Third World on reasonable compromise solutions in intensified contacts.
The Third World must be made aware that the Convention on the Law of the Sea
will become waste paper if other industrial nations join the United States, the
greatest oceanic and industrial power, in refusing to sign.

6108
CSO: 5200/2123 END

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DATE FILMED |
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