THE INFLUENCE OF FISHERIES CONSERVATION ON THE UNITED STATES INITIATIVE TO REFORMULATE INTERNATIONAL MARITIME LAW, 1945-1975

Until the twentieth century, off-shore extensions of national jurisdiction were rarely more than narrow Territorial Waters beyond which the Doctrine of the Freedom of the Seas prevailed. Contiguous Zones, and then Fisheries Conservation Zones, were added until, by 1975, the concept of a two hundred mile Economic Zone of exclusivity over living and inert resources management and exploitation was established. The three chapters of this study trace, (I) the evolution of Territorial Waters exclusivity since the sixteenth century, (II) the development of the Doctrine of the Continental Shelf following the Truman Proclamations of 1945, and, (III) the process through which Fisheries Conservation Zones focused United States maritime policy on the rational exploitation of off-shore resources. A comparison of the major documents of the period 1945-1975 which affected United States maritime policy shows that the initiative to have maritime law reformulated through a comprehensive United Nations Law of the Sea Treaty has had its strongest basis in fisheries conservation in order to insure the continued abundance of the resources of the seas.