The need for updating the United Nations Convention On Law Of Sea :-AKSHAY PATHAK

To waste, to destroy, our natural resources, to skin and exhaust the ocean instead of using it so as to increase its usefulness, will result in undermining in the days of our children the very prosperity which we ought by right to hand down to them amplified...----Theodore Roosevelt Paul Hawken was right in remarking that We assume that everythings becoming more and more efficient, and in an immediate sense thats true; our lives are better in many ways, But that improvement has been gained through a massively inefficient use of natural resources. Life today is governed by the marvels of science. Thousands of marine scientists all across the globe gather information about the marine ecosystem, fill gaps in existing knowledge, unravelling the mysteries hidden deep inside the oceans. 95% of the ocean still lays undiscovered. Man has been so greedy in exploiting and exploring the mysteries of the ocean that the he has turned a blind eye to the existing International Treaties and Conventions aimed at conserving and protecting marine biodiversity. Marine biodiversity stands extremely threatened by pollution, overexploitation and what not, the list goes on and on. The extent of ocean pollution and exploitation can be estimated from the fact that The United Nations Environment Programme estimated in 2006 that every square mile of ocean contains 46,000 pieces of floating plastic. There are now close to 500 dead zones covering more than 245,000 km globally, equivalent to the surface of the United Kingdom. The lower and upper value of current illegal and unreported fishing loses worldwide are between 10 million$ and 23.5 million$ annually, representing between 10 and 26 tons of fish1.

The United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea opened for signature four conventions and an optional protocol: the Convention on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone (CTS); the Convention on the High Seas (CHS); the Convention on Fishing and Conservation of the Living Resources of the High Seas (CFCLR); the Convention on the Continental Shelf

(CCS); and the Optional Protocol of Signature concerning the Compulsory Settlement of Disputes (OPSD)2 It imposes an obligation on the coastal states to preserve and protect the marine environment3 and to act through the competent international organization [generally IMO] or general diplomatic conference to establish international rules and standards to prevent, reduce and control pollution of the marine environment from vessels4. Flag States are obligated to adopt laws and regulations for pollution control which at least have the same effect as those international rules and standards5 The exploitation of marine biodiversity is subject to the rules established by the UNCLOS. But the existences of the rules established the UNCLOS stand questioned by the recent events. China's 9-dashed line claim converts the South China Sea into an internal Chinese lake,allowing China to unilaterally appropriate for itself what belongs to other sovereign coastal states, in defiance of UNCLOS. States are also required to avoid the use of technologies, or the intentional or accidental introduction of alien species to a particular part of the environment, which may cause harmful changes thereto6.But this has time and again been flouted by powerful nations. Also, we cannot turn a blind eye to the fact that UNCLOS has covered only rights to "nonsedentary marine biological resources" such as fish, which belong to whoever catches them on the high seas7.Deep-sea species such as sponges, corals and sea slugs and bacteria collected from hydrothermal vents have become commercially attractive for the enzymes their produce, which can be used in anti-cancer drugs, cosmetics, ethanol production and other products. The number of new products developed from marine species through biotechnology is growing at the rate of 4 percent every year. While in areas within national jurisdiction the Convention on Biological Diversity applies both to components of biological diversity and to processes and activities carried out under the jurisdiction or control of States, in areas beyond national jurisdiction, that Convention applies only to processes and activities carried out under the authority of States. This means that the Convention on Biological Diversity does not apply to the components of marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction.The fear of over harvesting, pollution and the disruption of the fragile marine ecosystem always exists. Marine biodiversity protection is the responsibility of the entire international community The need of the hour is the formation of multilateral agreement under UNCLOS.

A revised and updated UNCLOS would meet the needs of the present times by ensuring that the exploitation of ocean resources is replaced with rational and fair harvesting of such resources. Last but not the least it would not be wrong to say that the international

community must make sure that exploitation of marine resources is replaced with rational and fair harvest of such resources.

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http://untreaty.un.org/cod/avl/ha/gclos/gclos.html UNCLOS ART 192 UNCLOS Art. 211(1) UNCLOS Art. 211(2) UNCLOS Art. 196

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