Protecting the Vitoria-Trindade Chain: Legal clarifications and alternatives toward a marine protected area in the Brazilian outer continental shelf

Abstract

This article touches upon the possibility of establishing a marine protected area (MPA) fully covering the submerged Vitoria-Trindade Chain (VTC), an idea which was set aside when the Brazilian government created an MPA around Trindade Island and the Martin Vaz Archipelago, under the justification that a stretch of the VTC lies beyond national jurisdictional. This article points out that the VTC is, in fact, within national jurisdiction and argues that there is legal and political room to establish an MPA encompassing the whole seamount chain, which remains essentially unprotected so far.