ocean resources

The value of the ocean’s resources such as fish stocks, hydrocarbons, minerals or genetic resources is near impossible to establish. In 2015 the World Wildlife Fund for Nature’s report Reviving the Ocean Economy: The case for action—2015 valued them at US$24 trillion but with our limited knowledge of the whole ocean and what it holds we will never be able to establish their true value.

The question of ownership of the resources depends on their location. UNCLOS gives coastal States control over the living and non-living resources in their exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and on their continental shelf. States are free to exploit these resources or to sell licences to other countries to do so, but article 61 of UNCLOS obliges States to exploit any living resources found in the EEZ in a sustainable way.

Beyond the limits of national jurisdiction the principle of the common heritage of humankind prevails. Laid down in UNCLOS and echoed in the new High Seas Treaty, the resources found in the area beyond national jurisdiction are considered to be for the benefit of all humankind. The non-living resources of the Area (the ocean floor and seabed beyond national jurisdiction) are administered by the International Seabed Authority.

Many ocean resources are currently over-exploited or managed in an unsustainable way. Policy governing exploitation is often decided by governments without heeding scientific evidence or considering its impact on the resource or the environment. Scientific evaluations of both the state of the resource in question and the impact of its exploitation can help States manage the resource in a sustainable way without causing harm to the environment.