The Marine Environment, ARE WE DESTROYING THE OCEANS?

The state of the world’s oceans continues to deteriorate. As new threats to the health and viability of the oceans
emerge, most of the problems identified decades ago have still not been solved and many have become worse,
according to a study carried out in 2001 by the United Nations Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects
of Marine Environmental Protection. At risk are the vast resources of the oceans and the many economic benefits that humanity derives from them, estimated to be about $7 trillion per year.
Coastal areas — the most productive marine environments — are the most affected. Currently more than
half of the world’s population lives within 100 kilometers of the coast, with two thirds of all cities with over
2.5 million inhabitants. By 2025, it is expected that 75 per cent of the world’s population will live in coastal
areas.

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Rights and Obligations of Coastal States Bordering Straits based on international law of the sea and customary international law

The coastal State has a right to adopt laws and regulations relating to transit passage through straits. Under Article 42(1), those laws and regulations involve:
(a) the safety of navigation and the regulation of maritime traffic, as provided in Article 41,
(b) the prevention, reduction and control of pollution, by giving effect to applicable international regulations regarding the discharge of oil, oily wastes and other noxious substances in the strait,
(c) with respect to fishing vessels, the prevention of fishing, including the stowage of fishing gear, and
(d) the loading or unloading of any commodity, currency or person in contravention of the customs, fiscal, immigration or sanitary laws and regulations of States bordering straits. States bordering straits are required to give due publicity to all such laws and regulations in accordance with Article 41(3).
Rights and Obligations of Coastal States Bordering Straits based on international law of the sea and customary international law, Article 43 of the LOSC, coastal State, Coastal States Bordering Straits, environmental protection, Great Belt case between Finland and Denmark, Legality of Creation of Bridges in International Straits, LOSC, MODUs, non-suspendable innocent passage, Torres Strait

View More Rights and Obligations of Coastal States Bordering Straits based on international law of the sea and customary international law