The International Legal Framework for Area-Based Marine Management Tools

Abstract

Area-based management tools (ABMTs) for the marine realm can comprise a multitude of different concepts. They have in common that their main purpose is the conservation of the marine environment and the balancing of different ocean uses. Although marine protected areas (MPAs) are a widely discussed concept and part of ABMTs, the latter term goes further. This is exemplified by the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement) that includes a definition of ABMTs. Many such tools address specific human ocean uses in a geographically defined area, for example, shipping, fisheries, seabed mining, and other resource extraction. Others are designed to be cross-sectoral and pursue a broader objective such as balancing (all) relevant uses as part of marine spatial planning or more comprehensive protection of biological diversity. This chapter focuses upon international legal agreements that employ area-based management which addresses or potentially affects shipping to explore and compare their scope and purposes. This includes treaties with a global scope (e.g., UNCLOS, MARPOL, SOLAS, BBNJ Agreement) but also some regionally limited instruments (e.g., regional fisheries agreements). One of the leading questions is to what extent the international legal framework on ABMTs is set up in a coherent manner or whether—due to different purposes of ABMTs from different agreements and disconnection—it places burdens upon the shipping sector that are not necessarily justified to enhance sustainability in ocean governance.