Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Within 200 nautical miles, the coastal state has sovereign rights over resources, both
on the continental shelf and in the superjacent territorial sea and the EEZ for the purposes
of the exploration and exploitation of the resources (where an EEZ has been declared).
However,beyond200nautical miles, while thesovereign rightsofthecoastal state applyto
the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles, those rights do not apply to the superjacent
water column - in other words, the high seas. Under UNCLOS, the prior consent of the
coastal state is required for research on natural resources on its continental shelf. The nat-
ural resources of the continental shelf include the living organisms belonging to sedentary
species, that is to say, organisms which, at the harvestable stage, are either immobile on or
under the seabed, or are unable to move except in constant physical contact with the seabed
or the subsoil (UNCLOS, Article 77). However, access to the non-sedentary organisms or
compounds secreted by the sedentary species or closely associated with them, but found
in the high seas, would not be subject to any prior consent requirement. The dichotomy
between the legal boundaries established under UNCLOS and the biological and ecosys-
tem characteristics of the marine environment is perplexing for the purposes of regulating
The policy and legal uncertainty concerning the regime applicable to marine genetic
resources of areas beyond national jurisdiction may act as a deterrent to researchers and
investors alike. In particular, the need for legal clarity for investors was highlighted at the
eighth meeting of the United Nations General Assembly Informal Consultative Process on
Oceans and the Law of the Sea in 2007, which focused its discussions on marine genetic
resources in (United Nations,
2007a
).
