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Salient. Victoria University Student Newspaper. Volume 39, Number 24, September 27, 1976.

The UN Law of the Sea Conference

The UN Law of the Sea Conference

In the middle of this critical situation, both in New Zealand and worldwide, there came the proposal at the Law of the Sea Conference for the establishment of 200 mile exclusive economic zones off all coastal countries. The coastal country would have total control over all fishing activity within the zone.

Several countries including the United States have already declared such zones. The response of the Japanese and Russians has been to launch a new offensive in their fishing operations to gain "traditional rights" in areas that will come within the planned 200 mile zones. More subtle pressures to subvert the planned 200-mile zones are being tried as Jim Campbell, the General Manager of the NZ Fishing Industry Board has warned:

Look at the developing nations," he says, "They are pushed into a position by people who are technologically superior, financially equipped, with access to markets, whereby they are giving away their resources because they do have have the means to assess and then develop them.

"We need an interim period specified by the Law of the Sea Conference so that small coastal states are not forced to allow exploitation by others. We need assistance through FAO (the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation) to assist and guide little nations like New Zealand and Fiji to assess our resources." (Evening Post 19/2/76).

The proposals of the Law of the Sea Conference are part of the total move by third world countries for a new economic order. One aspect of this is removing the ability of imperialist powers to exploit without restriction raw materials found in other countries.

The actions of the OPEC countries brought this issue out into the open and it is the crux of the 200mile zone concept, as B.J- Kenton, president of the Federation of Commercial Fishermen, has said:

"Many people infer that the 200-mile zone is going to give us a whole new resource but I believe it is only giving us back" (read 'from the imperialists)" the right to manage, control and exploit the resource that I feel is rightly ours".

Map of New Zealand and surrounding islands

200 Nautical mile circles and approximate extent of continental shelf