The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Arctic Ocean

Abstract

This chapter provides an analysis of the legal status of the Law of the Sea Convention (LOSC) in the Arctic and a brief review of its content emphasizing the different maritime zones established by the LOSC. It examines the rules established by the LOSC for the delimitation of overlapping maritime claims as well as the rules for extended continental shelf claims by coastal States. The chapter then discusses two more specific issues: first, the LOSC provisions with respect to the protection of the marine environment with more detailed examination of Article 234, the ice-covered area provision, and the related question as to the legal relationship between national measures under Article 234 and the Polar Code recently adopted by the International Maritime Organization (IMO); and second, the LOSC provisions with respect to high seas fisheries and a more detailed examination of the recently concluded Agreement to Prevent Unregulated High Seas Fisheries in the Central Arctic Ocean.