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

Summary

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 regional 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 offshore zones for distances varying from 200 to 350 nautical miles for their exclusive exploitation and utilization of the ocean resources.

In order to elaborate on the overall argument, the chapter will first evaluate the impact of the 1982 Convention on the governance of maritime space in the Indian Ocean Region. Second, examples of the nature of maritime jurisdiction and regional sovereignty claims and disputes will be discussed. Third, the chapter will especially stress the necessity for cooperative approaches to the use of regional maritime space and the need to develop a comprehensive ocean policy in order to maximize maritime biodiversity and thus enhance the quality of regional fisheries.

The Indian Ocean basin comprises a number of regional seas and associated bays, channels, gulfs, and straits. Geographical studies of regional seas assist in focusing local factors which might encourage regional solutions to trans-boundary resource allocation problems and political boundary issues. Increased harvesting of marine biotic resources, exploitation of marine mineral resources, and the utilization of maritime space have spawned jurisdictional and management problems in regional seas between national governments and their subordinate political units, and among management agencies within governments (Alexander 1977, pp. 84–109). These problems require vigorous national assessment and development programmes, which must be guided by clearly defined policy objectives.