International Maritime Boundary Research Articles

Use of wastewater from passenger ships to assess the movement of COVID-19 and other pathogenic viruses across maritime international boundaries.

The worldwide spread of SARS-CoV-2 and the resulting COVID-19 pandemic has been driven by international travel. This has led to the desire to develop surveillance approaches which can estimate the rate of import of pathogenic organisms across international borders. The aim of this study was to investigate the use of wastewater-based approaches for the surveillance of viral pathogens on commercial short-haul (3.5 h transit time) roll-on/roll-off passenger/freight ferries operating between the UK and the Republic of Ireland. Samples of toilet-derived wastewater (blackwater) were collected from two commercial ships over a 4-week period and analysed for SARS-CoV-2, influenza, enterovirus, norovirus, the faecal-marker virus crAssphage and a range of physical and chemical indicators of wastewater quality. A small proportion of the wastewater samples were positive for SARS-CoV-2 (8% of the total), consistent with theoretical predictions of detection frequency (4%-15% of the total) based on the national COVID-19 Infection Survey and defecation behaviour. In addition, norovirus was detected in wastewater at low frequency. No influenza A/B viruses, enterovirus or enterovirus D68 were detected throughout the study period. We conclude that testing of wastewater from ships that cross international maritime boundaries may provide a cost-effective and relatively unbiased method to estimate the flow of infected individuals between countries. The approach is also readily applicable for the surveillance of other disease-causing agents.

The Role of Low-Tide Elevations in Maritime Delimitation Cases

Compared with the extensive research on the role of islands in maritime boundaries, recent developments on the impact of low-tide elevations in maritime delimitations have not been examined carefully. This article explores the role of low-tide elevations in international maritime boundary cases with a particular focus on the validity and appropriateness of using low-tide elevations as base points for an equidistance line for delimiting maritime zones. It argues that low-tide elevations can be valid base points for constructing an equidistance line as they may constitute the relevant coast. It notes, however, that based on the rationale applied to the treatment of islands in maritime delimitations, low-tide elevations are not appropriate base points for an equidistance line if they produce a disproportionate impact on the delimitation line. Overall, the article suggests that formulating a general rule on the effect of low-tide elevations in the maritime delimitations is likely to be a difficult task due to some unresolved issues concerning the appropriateness of the use of low-tide elevations.

Potential solutions to environmental conflict on exploitation of fish stocks in palk strait among fishermen of India and Sri Lanka

Illegal catching of fish stocks beyond the borders of India and Sri Lanka by violating the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) by the fishing communities of both countries has become a major international direct environmental conflict between both nations. Overexploitation of natural resources is a keystone environmental problem. It has been reported that Indian fishermen are stealing fish catch worth many millions of US dollars annually from Sri Lankan coastal waters. The bilateral agreements of 1974 and 1976 are frequently violated. The heavy use of trawlers that are not permitted to fish on coastal seas and the use of internationally banned bottom sea nets by Indian poachers are major threats to the coastal resources of north Sri Lanka. Trawlers catch fish flocks unselectively; the catch may include several non-targeted species and juvenile stages of fish, which is leading to species extinction. Arresting and imprisoning of fishermen by coastal guards of both countries (and collecting penalties) continue, and this is an unsustainable way of handling the issue. Sri Lanka has banned bottom trawling since the 6th of July 2017, which is a sustainable solution and beseeched possible greener solutions such as creating awareness, sensitizing fishermen, and promoting the use of GPS navigation, and also provoked conventional solutions such as monitoring or patrolling, which often lead to imprisonment and penalties for trespassing and seizing of fishing trawlers. Restorative solutions such as coral restoration, mangrove restoration, implantation of artificial reefs, and establishing mutually beneficial ‘no catch zone’ along the IMBL and marine reserves (or marine protected areas) by both nations may facilitate preventing the deterioration of fish stocks and ensuring their revival in the region. Above all, if this illegal catching continues, the availability of fish stocks in the Palk Strait region in the next ten years will be in question.

Rising Seas and Uncertainties: Establishing Static Maritime Borders to Ensure Equity in the Face of Sea Level Rise

The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), adopted in 1994, establishes international maritime boundaries that are measured from the “normal baseline” where the ocean meets the coast. However, UNCLOS does not account for changes in the normal baseline that are expected to occur as a result of climate change-induced sea level rise. These uncertainties leave room for maritime territorial disputes that threaten the political and economic resources of small island developing states (SIDS) and developing coastal nations. Here, we discuss the impacts of sea level rise on maritime boundaries with a focus on equity for SIDS and developing coastal nations. These nations, though they contribute the least to climate change, experience its effects most drastically and are the least equipped to adapt. To safeguard against the inequities that are expected to result from rising sea levels, we recommend a science-informed, diplomatic effort to address this issue: that the International Maritime Organization introduce an international convention to establish static maritime baselines. This approach would freeze maritime boundaries, allowing all island and coastal nations to retain their existing oceanic zones and entitlements. Establishing a static baselines promises to mitigate the disproportionate effects of climate change on SIDS and represents a necessary step in the push for international equity in the face of climate change.

The territorial organization of Peru (1821–2021)

The year 2014 culminates for Peru the last border dispute at the international level, and and only on this date can the territory of the Republic be configured in its entirety. During the 20th century international land boundary agreements were reached with significant territorial losses, compared to the surface with which the Republic of Peru was born; and in the second decade of the 21st century international maritime boundaries were defined even with the participation of the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Regarding the internal territorial organization, after two centuries of republican life, Peru still faces many challenges. Approximately 75% of its political-administrative districts do not have boundaries established by law and are configured solely on the basis of referential limits with consequent internal boundary differences and permanent decision-making based on territorial informality.The progressive creation of non-functional constituencies, with evident political nuances, also constitutes a challenge in the attempt to configure rational constituencies.Similarly, the inability to create political-administrative regions leads to the consolidation of departmental bureaucracies that use their powers to weaken the regionalization process. This research, using historical analysis, develops the most relevant processes of territorial configuration and reconfiguration that took place between 1821–2021, which explain the current territorial organization of Peru.

Maritime Transnational Crime: An Analysis of Coastal Tamil Nadu

Maritime Transnational Crimes are common in port cities, mostly covering crimes such as smuggling goods; illegal wildlife trade (IWT) in shipment of both flora and fauna species like pangolin meat and red sanders; smuggling of endangered marine species like sea cucumber, turtles, seahorse, shark fins, etc.; smuggling explosives in vessels and containers, illegal activities like trafficking- humans (International Maritime Broder Line- IMBL violations cases), drugs, arms and ammunitions, piracy (robbery), illegal logistics services (migrant smuggling) are also, rampant. Tamil Nadu is the second largest coastal state in peninsular India, with 13 coastal districts covering 1076 kms which shares international maritime border with South and Southeast Asian countries like Sri Lanka and Maldives. The state and central government of India in order to secure the maritime border and to prevent these crimes have engaged law enforcement agencies such as Forest Department, Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), Directorate of Intelligence (DRI), Customs Officials (CO), Coastal Security Group (CSG) - Marine Police, Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and Indian Navy. Simultaneously, the coastal communities are ushered and play a vital role in preventing Maritime Transnational Crimes in the international maritime boundaries and sea shores. Though, these attempts are effective still the transnational maritime crimes are increasing day by day in the coastal Tamil Nadu. This paper attempts to highlight the Maritime Transnational Crimes and smuggling activities in coastal Tamil Nadu and the role of coastal community in coastal security. This paper is an empirical study of descriptive nature with qualitative approach

Indo-Sri Lanka Fishing Conflict in the Palk Bay and Its Implications for Fisheries

The Palk Bay constitutes exceptionally rich fishing grounds for the fishers of India and Sri Lanka. In the recent past, dispute between Indian and Sri Lankan fishers has emerged in exploiting fisheries resources, posing serious threats to the livelihoods of thousands of fishery dependents in the two countries. Present study comprehensively explores all aspects of Indo-Sri Lanka fishing conflict, reviewing articles published during 1995-2018. Twenty-five articles that addressed the Palk Bay fishing conflict were obtained, using a systematic search strategy. The present study unfolds that fishers were engaged in fishing activities in Palk Bay, using different craft and gear combinations over many decades. Conspicuously, several factors are influential for the emergence and escalation of Indo-Sri Lanka fishing conflict, including; (1) establishment of International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL); (2) introduction of mechanized trawls by Indian fishers in 1960s with the expansion of the export market demand for shrimp; (3) imposition of fishing ban by Sri Lankan government during civil war during 1983-2009; (4) recommencement of distant water fisheries in the Palk Bay by Sri Lankan fishers with the conclusion of civil war in 2009, and (5) damage to fishing crafts and gears of artisanal fishers. Moreover, the study elucidates that Indo-Sri Lanka fishing conflict has a detrimental impact on the fisheries industry, livelihoods of the fishers, economy and political stability of India and Sri Lanka. Furthermore, the fishing conflict has caused many negative impacts including depletion of fishery resources, increase in enforcement cost, reduction of foreign exchange earnings, arresting fishers, presence of illegal trading and smuggling of arms and ammunition. Several measures have been taken by Indian and Sri Lankan Governments to resolve the fishing conflict. Albeit, they have yet to come to a common agreement to find an amicable long-lasting solution, vital for moving forward the industry in a sustainable manner.

Palk Bay fishing problem requires Indo-Sri Lankan joint-governance

ABSTRACT Palk Bay (PB) is an inlet in the Bay of Bengal. The 1974 Indo-Sri Lankan agreement that delimited the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) in PB, brought Kachchu Thivu under sovereignty of Sri Lanka, thus limiting the fishing ground for Indian fishers. Indian fishers allege that their traditional fishing right in PB, recognised by the 1974 agreement, was cancelled by the subsequent 1976 Indo-Sri Lankan agreement. Presently 2650 Indian trawlers are fishing in PB, often in Sri Lankan waters. They are repeatedly attacked by the Sri Lanka navy. The Government of India has been initiating programmes to prevent the trans boarder fishing and to divert the mechanized trawlers for deep-sea fishing. Indian fishers demand the retrieval of Kachchu Thivu and the restoration of traditional fishing rights as the permanent solution. The study reveals that the perspectives and the programmes of the Government cannot solve the problem and also the demands of the fishers are not legally feasible. So joint governance and management of PB by both countries is proposed as a lasting solution.

Reflections on the Presence of Third States in International Maritime Boundary Delimitation

The presence of third States occurs when two countries delimit their maritime boundary in a maritime area where there are more than two coastal States. The bilateral nature of maritime delimitation between two States requires the delimitation process not to prejudice the legal rights and interests of third States. On the one hand, at the procedural stage of international adjudication, third States may file an application for permission to intervene in the proceedings before a court or tribunal; at the merits stage, a third-party judicial organ may leave undecided the endpoint of a final boundary line to be delimited, so as not to affect the rights of a third State. On the other hand, in interstate maritime boundary agreements through international negotiation, in order to take care of third States' legal rights and interests, States may adopt several ways of addressing the existence of tripoints. This paper, in four parts, discusses the presence of third States in international maritime boundary delimitation. The first part gives a definition of a third State in the framework of maritime delimitation. The second part reflects on international adjudication relating to the presence of third States. The third part provides some observations on State practices relating to the existence of tripoints. The conclusion points out that there is a widening gap between maritime delimitation in theory and in practice, since recent case law particularly confines the delimitation to a purely bilateral status, without enough focus on the presence of third States, resulting in procedurally prejudicial impacts upon the legal rights and interests of third States.

Some like it hot: Repeat migration and residency of whale sharks within an extreme natural environment

The Arabian Gulf is the warmest sea in the world and is host to a globally significant population of the whale shark Rhincodon typus. To investigate regional whale shark behaviour and movements, 59 satellite-linked tags were deployed on whale sharks in the Al Shaheen area off Qatar from 2011–14. Four different models of tag were used throughout the study, each model able to collect differing data or quantities of data. Retention varied from one to 227 days. While all tagged sharks crossed international maritime boundaries, they typically stayed within the Arabian Gulf. Only nine sharks dispersed through the narrow Strait of Hormuz into the Gulf of Oman. Most sharks stayed close to known or suspected feeding aggregation sites over summer months, but dispersed throughout the Arabian Gulf in winter. Sharks rarely ventured into shallow areas (<40 m depth). A single, presumably pregnant female shark was the sole animal to disperse a long distance, crossing five international maritime boundaries in 37 days before the tag detached at a distance of approximately 2644 km from the tagging site, close to the Yemeni-Somali border. No clear space-use differentiation was evident between years, for sharks of different sizes, or between sexes. Whale sharks spent the most time (~66%) in temperatures of 24–30°C and in shallow waters <100 m depth (~60%). Sharks spent relatively more time in cooler (X2 = 121.692; p<0.05) and deeper (X2 = 46.402; p<0.05) water at night. Sharks rarely made dives deeper than 100 m, reflecting the bathymetric constraints of the Gulf environment. Kernel density analysis demonstrated that the tagging site at Al Shaheen was the regional hotspot for these sharks, and revealed a probable secondary aggregation site for whale sharks in nearby Saudi Arabian waters. Analysis of visual re-sightings data of tagged sharks revealed that 58% of tagged individuals were re-sighted back in Al Shaheen over the course of this study, with 40% recorded back at Al Shaheen in the year following their initial identification. Two sharks were confirmed to return to Al Shaheen in each of the five years of study.

Fluid territories: Rethinking state territorialisation in Palk Bay, South Asia

ABSTRACTThe study objective was to gain a better understanding of the transboundary fishing conflict between Indian trawl fishers and Sri Lankan small-scale fishers in Palk Bay using a relational approach to territoriality. The authors employed different ethnographic methods, including open, structured, and semi-structured interviews, and performed a media analysis in order to understand the everyday practices of Indian trawl fishers within the wider geopolitical context of a 30-year war in neighbouring Sri Lanka. The relational approach moves away from seeing cross-border fishing merely as an act of counter-territorialisation. The results revealed that the cross-border fishing underlying the crisis has largely resulted from a complex network of changing relationships between on the one hand Indian trawl fishers and India, and on the other hand Sri Lankan state agencies and Sri Lankan fishers, resulting in a porous international maritime boundary. The authors conclude that this in turn has resulted in a fluid international maritime boundary line.

The Title to Dokdo/Takeshima: Addressing the Legacy of World War ii Territorial Settlements/Finding the Right Settlement of Dispute Mechanism

The seas of South East Asia present a succinct backdrop against which several current disputes are being played out. At stake are the maritime boundaries of China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Singapore. In seeking to delimit such international maritime boundaries, vital questions are being asked concerning sovereignty over islands, reefs and islets, and the value that can be ascribed to these following the determination of sovereignty. This paper seeks to examine one such dispute, between South Korea and Japan, concerning contested sovereignty over two traditionally uninhabited islets that lie in the sea between the two countries, namely the islets of Dokdo (Korean name)/Takeshima (Japanese), also known as Liancourt Rocks (English terminology).

The Political Ecology of Palk Bay Fisheries: Geographies of Capital, Fisher Conflict, Ethnicity and Nation‐State

AbstractIndian trawl fishers in the Palk Bay regularly engage in cross‐border fishing to the detriment of Sri Lankan artisanal fishers whose nets are irreparably damaged. Increasing tension between Indian trawl fishers from the state of Tamil Nadu and Sri Lankan artisanal fishers from the Northern Province has resulted in the Sri Lankan government patrolling the international maritime boundary line (IMBL) more stringently and increased arrests of Indian trawl fishers. This paper argues that the present “fisheries crisis” in the Palk Bay must be understood from a political ecology perspective that takes cognizance of the circuitous nature of capital accumulation and how fisher conflict, ethnicity and the politics of the nation‐state have shaped the spatial practices of accumulation. In a changing global context where semi‐industrial vessels are increasingly crossing boundaries, it argues for more context specific studies of processes of capital accumulation.

Pawns, pirates or peacemakers: Fishing boats in the inter-Korean maritime boundary dispute and ambivalent governmentality

Extractive activities such as oil drilling, mining and fishing often appear implicated in international maritime boundary disputes. While natural resources' crucial role as a catalyst for conflict has been well-noted in the literature, such an approach has typically assumed a contextual and passive position of natural resources with little political agency for altering the dynamics of a confrontation. This paper provides an alternative perspective in which resource activities constitute a willful agent that works in part to govern the course of the boundary dispute. Drawing on Foucault's notion of governmentality, I look at how South Korean fishing activities near a disputed maritime border between the two Koreas, called the Northern Limit Line, may be imbued with intentionality representing an indirect arm of the state's geopolitical agenda. Mobilizing the realist narrative of an immovable border and the mundane tactics of education sessions and at-sea radio communication, I suggest that the South Korean government is seeking to create subjects in fishers to reinforce the state objectives of boundary legitimization and defense of claimed waters. The analysis, however, also demonstrates an ambivalent nature of governmentality, with fishers muddling the state interventions through their own conduct and rationale. The South Korean government thus faces a delicate task of managing the fishing operation vis-à-vis the boundary dispute. Taking the seemingly innocuous resource activity such as fishing to the center stage of power relations, this paper also tables one way of engaging with maritime boundaries, one of the understudied domains in political geography.

The ICJ and its Lip Service to the Non-Priority Statusof the Equidistance Method of Delimitation

Since the first maritime boundary delimitation dispute before the International Court of Justice(ICJ) in the North Sea Continental Shelf Cases in 1969 to the most recent maritime delimitation judgment in Maritime Dispute (Peru v Chile), the Court has maintained that the equidistance method of delimitation is not the preferred method for delimiting international maritime boundaries. Yet a close examination of the Court’s decisions shows that by insisting that the equidistance method does not have priority over other methods of delimitation, and yet continuing to apply it in the first instance to maritime delimitation cases before it, the Court has been paying lip service to its stance regarding the equidistance method. In reality, the former is the preferred method of delimitation, and States who submit their disputes to the Court may well expect that this is the method that would be applied by the Court in delimiting their boundaries. In order to prove this position, this article will consider closely how the equidistance method has been and is being applied by the ICJ. It thus traces the life cycle of the equidistance method, from its non-mandatory status at the beginning to its present pre-eminent status in light of the ICJ’s maritime boundary delimitation decisions. It also assesses the rationale behind this development,and argues that the ICJ has by its application of the equidistance method elevated it to the method for international maritime boundary delimitation.

A place to live and fish: Relational place making among the trawl fishers of Palk Bay, India

In Palk Bay (India), fishing is intrinsically tied to a complex and dynamic geo-political situation. The trawl fishers from India are finding it increasingly difficult to operate in the bay due to the strict enforcement of the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) by the Sri Lanka Navy and the increasing animosity of the small scale gill netters of Northern Sri Lanka, who accuse the Indian trawlers of encroaching and destroying their livelihood. In the multi-scalar nature of this conflict, it is easy for policy makers and researchers to get distracted by processes happening at different scales (regional, national) thereby ignoring the local processes that shape everyday fishing. By analysing the everyday lives and lived places of the fishers in the two trawl centres of Rameswaram and Mandapam, this article exclusively focusses on the scale of the local. A closer look at these centres, located in close proximity to each other, reveals substantial differences in the way fisheries are managed. The objective of this paper is to understand how one of these centres is able to manage its fleet better (better price for fishes, lower discards and higher compliance) than the other, increasing understanding of the dynamics of resource usage in Palk Bay to give clues for possible solutions. Through the ethnographic method, the research uses the concept of relational place making in analysing local fishery resource usage. By dialectically analysing the various social, political and economic processes both on land and at sea in each these centres, I conclude that the differences in management between them are an outcome of a series of complex interactions between several processes. Based on my analysis, I argue that the mismanagement of the Rameswaram fleet and the better managed Mandapam fleet cannot be attributed only to the relative strength of the institutional set up on land but should also take into consideration the conditions at sea. Thus, managing a complex fishery system requires a better understanding of the interaction of various processes that happen at different places of concern to the everyday lives of the fishers, moving beyond the limited narrow focus of several place based studies which focus on a singular place, social group and scale.

International Law does not Provide an Answer as to where International Maritime Boundaries should be Drawn – it Provides Answers

International Law does not Provide an Answer as to where International Maritime Boundaries should be Drawn – it Provides Answers

Geographical Expertise in International Boundary Cases

An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content.

The Maritime Border Areas of Ireland, North and South: An Assessment of Present Jurisdictional Ambiguities and International Precedents Relating to Delimitation of 'Border Bays'

Since the time of Partition of the island of Ireland in the 1920s, there have, for good political reasons (such as particularly the pre-Belfast Agreement Irish claim to all the territorial waters around Northern Ireland), been no agreed international maritime boundaries between either jurisdiction North or South: either in the two border bays lying to the north-west and north-east of the land boundary (Lough Foyle and Carlingford Lough, respectively) or in regard to the lateral boundaries extending further seawards from these loughs. Nor have any official closing lines been agreed to indicate that the two border bays contain internal waters. The past lack of maritime boundaries has been mitigated in the more recent past by the unique cross-border jurisdiction relating to fisheries in Lough Foyle from 1952, as now extended under the Belfast Agreement to Carlingford Lough, through the enhanced joint regime administered through the Loughs Agency (part of a North-South body). However, for other jurisdictional purposes, such as criminal law enforcement, security, and planning aspects for marine uses such as windfarming, the lack of territorial sea/internal waters boundaries has led to Anglo-Irish problems and jurisdictional vacuums. This article looks at the past and present of such jurisdictional problems—including those relating to the new Loughs Agency—in the light of border bay precedents elsewhere in the world, and suggests maritime boundary solutions which might be mutually adopted

Defining maritime boundaries: ‘the murky hand of history's oversight’ in the Gulf of Maine

In this paper, an unresolved boundary dispute in the Gulf of Maine, between the United States and Canada, in an area known as the Grey Zone is examined. In the context of a juridically weak framework of principles for determining international maritime boundaries, the case of a small fishing community caught between conflicting national interests and a lucrative fishing zone being claimed by both countries is examined. Left unresolved with the 1984 International Court of Justice decision defining the ‘Hague Line’, this dispute is made more problematic because of ambiguous objectives and conflicting agendas between national governments, between state and community levels and within the community itself.