Law of the Sea

The question of who owns the resources of the oceans has been debated on the national and international level for centuries. As the use of the seas has increased, and as new and important resources are discovered and developed, the debates become more sharply focused and timely. The major conferences on the law of the sea that have been held since World War II have confronted many diverse problem areas, but they have been more successful in identifying basic issues than in identifying a body of law acceptable to all of the nations of the world. In chapter 14 we reviewed federal policy on jurisdiction over the inner and the outer continental shelf area that borders the United States. In this chapter we consider the major international issues that apply to the mining of the mineral resources of the deep sea.