Fisheries Exploitation in the Indian Ocean: Threats and Opportunities

5. The Indian Ocean Fishery: Resources and Exploitation Within and Outside National Jurisdictional Limits

72 Vivian Louis Forbes 5 THE INDIAN OCEAN FISHERY Resources and Exploitation Within and Outside National Jurisdictional Limits Vivian Louis Forbes INTRODUCTION The principal aim of this chapter is to argue for an integrated approach to the political assessment of the maritime zone management of the ocean in a regional context. As such, it draws attention to the r egional need for cooperation in fishery conservation and technology and for the further development and enhancement of trading relationships among the littoral states. In a bid to obtain or control access to the use of maritime space and the seabed, national maritime claims have been steadily expanding to the point where the majority of coastal and island states have claimed of fshore zones for distances varying from 200 to 350 nautical miles for their exclusive exploitation and utilization of the ocean r esources. In order to elaborate on the overall argument, the chapter will first evaluate the impact of the 1982 Convention on the governance of 05 Fisheries Exploitation 10/28/09, 12:40 PM 72 The Indian Ocean Fishery 73 maritime space in the Indian Ocean Region. Second, examples of the nature of maritime jurisdiction and r egional sovereignty claims and disputes will be discussed. Third, the chapter will especially stress the necessity for cooperative appr oaches to the use of r egional maritime space and the need to develop a compr ehensive ocean policy in order to maximize maritime biodiversity and thus enhance the quality of regional fisheries. The Indian Ocean basin comprises a number of r egional seas and associated bays, channels, gulfs, and straits. Geographical studies of regional seas assist in focusing local factors which might encourage regional solutions to transboundary r esource allocation problems and political boundary issues. Increased harvesting of marine biotic r esources, exploitation of marine mineral resources, and the utilization of maritime space have spawned jurisdictional and management pr oblems in regional seas between national governments and their subor dinate political units, and among management agencies within governments (Alexander 1977, pp. 84–109). These pr oblems require vigorous national assessment and development programmes, which must be guided by clearly defined policy objectives. A cooperative approach is r equired not only in defining national maritime limits in disputed zones, of which ther e are no fewer than twenty-six cases within the Indian Ocean basin, but also in developing policies to share the marine resources that transcend maritime international political boundaries, and for the ef fective management of the marine environment (Forbes 2001). Whereas the ocean envir onment is capable of sustaining valuable outputs in combination with other activities and inputs, ther e has been, however, a perception since the 1980s that the ocean environment is being used at or near its capacity. The U.N. General Assembly was informed on 6 December 2006 that without mor e protection, the world’s fragile ocean ecosystem will not r ebound from the shrinking populations of biotic resources (GA/10548 2006). This is certainly the case for certain fisheries in some geographical regions and possibly for other competing inter ests. Relatively little attention has been given to the utilization of marine resources for aquacultur e, mining, and entr epreneurial developments, compared with the application of science and technology to land-based resources. Much of the geographical ar ea in the context of this study is tropical: many of the coastlines of the developing states ar e fringed by 05 Fisheries Exploitation 10/28/09, 12:40 PM 73 74 Vivian Louis Forbes mangroves and/or coral r eefs and the marine biotic r esources appear barely able to support existing human population demands. Implementations of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) (Article 57) and other special maritime jurisdictional zones have cr eated new international boundaries for many coastal and island states. This extended jurisdiction regime, coupled with the possibility of marine biotic and mineral resources straddling potential maritime national jurisdiction has re-emphasized the ur gency of establishing mutually r ecognized international political boundaries. Only political will and private contractual arrangements developed on clearly defined and understood mutual gains will ensure long-term and equitable access to marine biotic and mineral resources (Phillips 1977, pp. 585–618). Defining the limits of sover eignty must naturally be a priority for administrators of governments of coastal and island states; however, this is not necessarily the case with India and Pakistan when it r elates to the delimitation...