Fisheries Governance in the Exclusive Economic Zone: Legal Framework and Coastal State Powers

Introduction

The legal framework governing marine capture fisheries underwent a radical transformation during the second half of the twentieth century. For centuries, ocean governance operated under the traditional doctrine of freedom of the seas, which permitted unrestricted access to living marine resources beyond a narrow strip of coastal territorial waters. As industrial harvesting techniques advanced, overexploitation threatened wild fish stocks globally, exposing the inadequacies of unregulated ocean management.

The adoption of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, known as UNCLOS, codified a novel legal compromise: the Exclusive Economic Zone. Spanning Part V of the treaty, specifically Articles 55 through 75, this legal zone grants coastal states functional authority over marine living resources up to 200 nautical miles from their baselines. Understanding the legal regime of fisheries within this zone requires examining the delicate balance between the sovereign rights of coastal nations and the rights or obligations of other maritime states.

Evolution of the Exclusive Economic Zone Concept

Prior to UNCLOS, coastal nation jurisdiction was generally restricted to a narrow territorial sea, often three nautical miles wide. Beyond that threshold, open ocean waters were classified as high seas, where any nation could freely deploy fishing fleets. The mid-twentieth century witnessed increasing unilateral assertions of expanded offshore jurisdiction by coastal states seeking to protect valuable coastal ecosystems and secure local food supplies.

The Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea synthesised these competing national claims into a single legal regime. The resulting convention established the Exclusive Economic Zone as a sui generis legal category. Unlike the territorial sea, where a coastal state exercises full sovereignty, the economic zone provides specific, limited sovereign rights for resource exploitation alongside administrative obligations for marine environmental protection and resource conservation.

What Rights Do Coastal States Have Over EEZ Fisheries?

Under Article 56 of UNCLOS, the coastal state possesses sovereign rights for the purpose of exploring and exploiting, conserving and managing the natural resources, whether living or non-living, of the waters superjacent to the seabed and of the seabed and its subsoil. These sovereign rights over living resources are functional rather than absolute territorial sovereignty. Coastal states do not own the maritime space in the same manner as national land territory, but they maintain primary jurisdictional authority over economic activity conducted within those waters.

Article 61 reinforces this jurisdictional role by assigning coastal states the obligation to ensure that living resources within the zone are not endangered by overexploitation. To fulfill this responsibility, the coastal state is empowered to determine allowable catches, establish conservation standards, and regulate all fishing activities within its designated zone. Foreign vessels cannot lawfully operate within an exclusive zone without explicit authorization or regulatory compliance established by the coastal authority.

How Is Total Allowable Catch Determined in the EEZ?

The determination of the Total Allowable Catch, abbreviated as TAC, serves as the primary scientific instrument for managing living resources within the zone. Under Article 61, Paragraph 2, of UNCLOS, coastal states must ensure through proper conservation and management measures that the maintenance of living resources in the exclusive zone is not endangered by overexploitation. This duty requires coastal authorities to take into account the best scientific evidence available to them.

Article 61 specifies that conservation measures must aim to maintain or restore populations of harvested species at levels which can produce the maximum sustainable yield, abbreviated as MSY, as qualified by relevant environmental and economic factors. The calculation takes into account specific elements such as:

• The economic needs of coastal fishing communities and the special requirements of developing nations.
• Fishing patterns, the interdependence of stocks, and generally recommended international minimum standards.
• The biological impact on associated or dependent species to prevent ecosystem collapse.

Can Foreign Vessels Fish in Another Country EEZ?

Foreign access to fisheries within an exclusive zone is governed by Article 62 of UNCLOS, which establishes the principle of optimum utilization. A coastal state is obligated to determine its own capacity to harvest the total allowable catch. When the coastal state lacks the harvesting capacity to capture the entire allowable catch, it is required under Article 62, Paragraph 2, to give other states access to the surplus of the allowable catch through agreements or other arrangements.

Access is not automatic, nor is it unrestricted. Coastal states retain broad regulatory discretion when granting foreign access. Foreign nationality fleets operating under access agreements must comply with national laws and regulations, which may include:

• Licensing and payment of fees, compensation, or equipment transfers.
• Determining specific species quotas, vessel types, permitted gear, and seasonal closures.
• Mandating onboard fisheries observers and real-time vessel positioning reports.
• Requiring landing of catches in designated coastal state ports or conducting joint ventures.

What Are Straddling and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks?

Marine life does not adhere to political boundaries. Certain species migrate across multiple national zones or between an exclusive zone and the adjacent high seas. UNCLOS addresses these species under specific legal frameworks to prevent regulatory loopholes and ecological depletion.

Straddling stocks are fish populations that occur both within the exclusive economic zones of two or more coastal states, or within an exclusive zone and an area adjacent to the zone on the high seas. Article 63 requires coastal states and high seas fishing nations to coordinate directly or through appropriate regional organizations to agree upon necessary conservation and management measures.

Highly migratory species, such as tuna, oceanic sharks, and marlins, span vast oceanic distances. Article 64 mandates that coastal states and other nations whose nationals harvest these species must cooperate directly or through international organizations to ensure conservation and promote optimum utilization throughout the region.

To operationalize these general duties, states adopted the 1995 United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement, abbreviated as UNFSA. This agreement strengthened the role of Regional Fisheries Management Organizations, abbreviated as RFMOs, establishing binding scientific quotas, precautionary principles, and ecosystem-based management across high seas and adjacent zones.

Special Regimes for Specific Marine Species

UNCLOS establishes distinct legal rules for particular biological categories of living marine resources beyond standard straddling stocks:

How Do States Enforce Fisheries Laws in the EEZ?

Granting sovereign rights over natural resources is ineffective without regulatory enforcement power. Article 73 of UNCLOS provides coastal states with comprehensive enforcement mechanisms to ensure compliance with national laws adopted in conformity with the treaty.

In the exercise of its sovereign rights, a coastal state may take necessary measures including boarding, inspection, arrest, and judicial proceedings against non-compliant vessels. However, Article 73 balances enforcement authority with safeguard mechanisms designed to protect international shipping and foreign crew members:

• Arrested vessels and their crews must be promptly released upon the posting of a reasonable bond or other security.
• Coastal state penalties for violations of fisheries regulations within the exclusive zone may not include imprisonment, in the absence of agreements to the contrary by the states concerned, nor any form of corporal punishment.
• In cases of arrest or detention of foreign vessels, the coastal state must promptly notify the flag state through appropriate diplomatic channels.

Rights of Land-Locked and Geographically Disadvantaged States

The establishment of 200 nautical mile economic zones effectively enclosed vast areas of former high seas, impacting countries lacking direct ocean access or possessing restricted coastlines. Articles 69 and 70 of UNCLOS explicitly address the equity rights of land-locked states and geographically disadvantaged states.

These provisions grant such states the right to participate, on an equitable basis, in the exploitation of an appropriate part of the surplus of living resources of the exclusive zones of coastal states in the same subregion or region. The exact terms, conditions, and quota allocations are established through bilateral, subregional, or regional agreements, taking into account the economic development needs of all involved states.

Dispute Resolution Mechanism in EEZ Fisheries Governance

Compulsory dispute settlement under Part XV of UNCLOS applies broadly to maritime interpretation, but fisheries management within the economic zone features significant legal exceptions. Under Article 297, Paragraph 3, a coastal state is not obligated to submit disputes regarding its sovereign rights over living resources including discretionary decisions on total allowable catch or foreign access to binding judicial arbitration.

Instead, where a dispute arises concerning allegations that a coastal state has manifestly failed to comply with its conservation duties, arbitrary non-allocation of surplus, or arbitrary refusal to determine total allowable catch, the matter is referred to compulsory conciliation. The conciliation commission issues recommendations which, while influential, are non-binding upon the coastal state, preserving coastal sovereign discretion over resource management.

Conclusion

The legal regime governing fisheries in the Exclusive Economic Zone reflects a carefully negotiated balance between coastal state sovereignty, economic development, and sustainable resource conservation. By granting coastal states primary authority over resources extending 200 nautical miles offshore, UNCLOS replaced an era of unregulated ocean exploitation with structured, science-based management.

As global seafood demand continues to grow and climate change shifts marine biological distributions, the effective implementation of EEZ rules supported by international cooperation through regional organizations and binding legal instruments remains indispensable for maintaining ocean health and marine biodiversity for future generations.