Quality Counts: High Seas Marine Protected Areas in the Southern Ocean

2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 166-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheryle Hislop ◽  
Julia Jabour
2007 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Harris ◽  
Marcus Haward ◽  
Julia Jabour ◽  
Eric J. Woehler

AbstractConservation of the high seas marine environment poses a significant challenge to policy-makers and managers. Marine conservation efforts are often hindered by the lack of data and the difficulties in addressing multiple, and typically conflicting uses. The majority of extant Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are in coastal or tropical regions within national jurisdiction. Conservation of high seas MPAs has emerged on the international agenda as a critical issue requiring the application of novel approaches, international cooperation and political will. Knowledge and understanding of the marine environment and data on marine biodiversity are all typically limited for the high seas, and the use of surrogates to assist in the identification of areas of high conservation value is one possible mechanism to address and potentially overcome these limitations. Drawing upon a database spanning more than 20 years and containing approximately 140 000 records of seabird sightings at sea, this study assesses the potential use of seabirds as surrogates for marine biodiversity in the Indian sector of the Southern Ocean. At-sea ranges, species diversity and the distributions of endangered species may be appropriate selectors or filters to identify areas with high conservation values. Integrating policy with science provides an appropriate mechanism to identify and prioritise MPAs in the Southern Ocean.


2012 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 849-857 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen N. Scott

Abstract This article explores developments in connection with marine protected areas (MPAs) on the high seas, beginning with a brief survey of existing high seas MPAs, recent initiatives such as the designation of the South Orkney Islands MPA, the creation of a network of OSPAR MPAs and the work undertaken by the UN General Assembly on developing a framework for oceans governance in areas beyond national jurisdiction. It considers: the absence of a clear legal basis for the creation of MPAs on the high seas; the relationship between MPA designation and traditional high seas freedoms; and the complex jurisdictional arrangements that govern activities on and in the high seas.


2010 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 483-522 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siân Prior ◽  
Aldo Chircop ◽  
Julian Roberts

AbstractArea-based management is an important tool to improve integrated conservation of high seas biodiversity. While States clearly support the need to protect high seas biodiversity, some States remain reluctant to adopt internationally binding measures that may have an impact on high seas freedoms. Since there is limited experience to date with the application of area-based management tools on the high seas, this article examines the practical implications of establishing such measures through an analysis of the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) particularly sensitive sea area concept. After providing an overview of the legal complexities associated with the designation of high seas marine protected areas, this article introduces the PSSA concept and identifies the unique features that make it appropriate as a measure for protecting high seas biodiversity. The core of the analysis is an examination of State practice within the IMO in the context of the potential designation of a PSSA in the Southern Ocean.


2004 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tullio Scovazzi

AbstractThe 2003 meeting of the United Nations Open-Ended Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea made a call to explore a range of tools for the protection and management of vulnerable and threatened marine ecosystems and biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction. To achieve this aim, the establishment of marine protected areas (MPAs) on the high seas not only fully complies with customary international law, but is also the subject-matter of specific obligations arising under a number of treaties (starting from UNCLOS Art. 194, para. 5). Today the time-honoured concept of freedom of the sea is to be understood in the context of the present range of marine activities and in relation to all the potentially conflicting uses and interests, such as the protection of the marine environment and the sound exploitation of marine living resources. The 1995 Protocol Concerning Specially Protected Areas and Biological Diversity in the Mediterranean is an interesting precedent on the issue of MPAs on the high seas.


2021 ◽  
pp. 93-99
Author(s):  
А. V. Kovban

The article examines the content of freedom of the high seas at the present stage of development, the role of the Conventions Maritime Law in the formation and formation of freedom of the high seas as an institution of international maritime law and analysis of the results of the Conventions. The author considers the legal genesis of the concept of freedom of the high seas and current trends in the transformation of freedom of the high seas in modern international maritime law. The principle of freedom of the high seas expresses the objective need of States and peoples for the free use of maritime space for international economic, political and cultural ties, as well as for the use of living ocean resources. An important transformation of international cooperation and legislation is also related to the principle of exclusive jurisdiction of the flag state. All four conventions have been widely recognized by the member states and are considered to be the most important stage in the codification of international maritime law and its further progressive development. The adoption of the four conventions meant that the unity of the law of the sea was lost, but there may be advantages: for example, the adoption of conventions and a single protocol, instead of a single legal act, tried to involve more states in at least some of the conventions. The creation of marine protected areas in the open waters of the world’s oceans outside national jurisdiction has no legal basis. The 1982 Convention does not give states the right to extend their jurisdiction to certain parts regardless of the objectives pursued, so the creation of marine protected areas on the high seas is impossible within the existing international legal framework.


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