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The first UN Conference on the Law of UNCLOS Implementing Agreement relating but there are no exploration activities yet. (blue technology leaders) according to their
the Sea (UNCLOS I) was held in 1956 and to the Conservation and Management of South Korea, China, France, United King- respective capabilities in employing blue
produced four conventions: one on the Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory dom, Germany, and Russia are relevant technologies to manage marine resources
high seas, one on the territorial zone and Fish Stocks (UNFSA) and the 1994 Agree- actors in mining, along with a significant for sustainability. They are: the United King-
the contiguous zone; one over the territo- ment on Mining (Agreement Relating to number of companies. dom, Germany, Denmark, the United States,
rial sea; and another on fisheries and living the Implementation of Part XI of UNCLOS). Despite efforts to fill regulatory gaps in Finland, Norway, France, Sweden, South Ko-
resources on the high seas. The second (UN- Also noteworthy is the role of FAO in the the international ocean regime, strategies rea, and Canada. Following the same pattern
CLOS II), of 1960, did not result in new trea- fisheries sector, with the negotiation of the to mitigate the evident fragmentation of of global governance, all are Western econ-
ties. In the 1970s, the International Conven- 1993 Compliance Agreement, which came governance (BARROS-PLATIAU and MAL- omies, with the exception of South Korea.
tion for the Prevention of Pollution Caused into force ten years later. The FAO currently JEAN-DUBOIS, 2017) are clearly insufficient Japan ranked eleventh, China ranked seven-
by Ships (MARPOL 73/78) was signed. Oth- plays a central role in the fisheries agenda, and coordinated action to improve ocean teenth and Brazil ranked nineteenth. Among
er treaties were signed, focusing mainly on with a robust political-legal framework, al- quality is lacking (HUMPHRIES and HARD- the other South Americans, Chile was in the
safety during navigation, maritime pollution beit of limited effectiveness. EN-DAVIES, 2020; MIT, 2022). twenty-second position, Colombia in thir-
and working conditions. In the latter, the ILO The 2020s represent a new historical From the perspective of the STI, the ty-second and Argentina in fifty-first.
played a central role, leading to the Mari- tipping point, given that two new multi- Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable The economic and commercial perspec-
time Labor Convention in 2006. lateral agreements are the result of long Development 2021-2030, or Decade of tive can be summarized by what Bennett
The third conference (UNCLOS III), start- and arduous negotiations (BARROS-PLATI- the Ocean, was launched under the aegis et al. (2018) called the “blue growth para-
ed in 1973 and concluded in 1982, led to AU AND OLIVEIRA, 2020). The first treaty of the UN to respond to the challenges of digm”. It brings old challenges of exclusion,
the Convention on the Law of the Sea (UN- seeks to regulate the conservation and sus- “the science we need for the ocean we concentration of wealth and violence, but
CLOS), considered to this day as the “Con- tainable use of marine biodiversity beyond want”. Among these challenges, we high- more complex for the 2030 Agenda, notably
stitution of the Seas”. Despite its importance national jurisdictions (BBNJ), according to light the lack of data and the asymmetry for SDG 14 - Life below water. It is estimated
for the codification of part of customary law four pillars: marine genetic resources, ma- of knowledge and capacity between stake- that there are about 150 million tons of plas-
and several institutional innovations, such as rine protected areas, environmental impact holders. There is a chronic lack of data on tic in the ocean (MIT, 2022). With regard to
the creation of the International Tribunal for studies, and capacity building and technol- marine ecosystems and on industrial and biotechnology, the German company BASF
the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), the Internation- ogy transfer. The current text, which circu- other activities in the ocean, such as fisher- holds almost half of the patents for the
al Seabed Authority (ISA) and the Commis- lated in 2019, reflects the immense diver- ies and tourism. The Science and Business genetic sequencing of living marine organ-
sion on the Limits of the Continental Shelf gences between the different stakeholders Initiative (ÖSTERBLOM et al., 2017) is an isms (BLASIAK et al., 2018), an unequivocal
(CLCS). But the Convention only entered (CREMERS et al., 2020; BARROS-PLATIAU example of connecting global actors to sci- indication of the importance of the private
into force in 1994. From an international re- and OLIVEIRA, 2020). entific research, with the aim of breaking sector in ocean governance. Global fish-
lations point of view, a relevant factor is the The other treaty, negotiated under the down silos and making dialogue broader. ing is an activity that is difficult to control,
absence of the United States, which, despite International Seabed Authority (ISA), seeks At the moment, there is more research on with incomplete data published by FAO in
having ratified in 2013 conventions adopted to establish a mining code for areas beyond outer space than on the seafloor, but recent the SOFIA Report in 2022. Fishing has led to
in 1956 by UNCLOS II, has not yet ratified national jurisdiction (SINGH, 2021). It re- discoveries, such as the icefish colony in the overfishing - and the consequent risk of ex-
the Convention of 1982, an attitude in line fers to a set of rules and procedures for the Antarctic polar ocean (ANDERSON, 2022) tinction - of some species (CARMINE et al.,
with a historic position of that country of regulation of prospecting, exploration, and and the giant sponges in the central Arctic 2020; GONÇALVES, 2021), as well as an un-
not ratifying several multilateral treaties con- exploitation of marine minerals in the Area, (MORGANTI et al, 2022) reinforce the ex- controlled increase in aquaculture (MAZZE-
cerning natural resources. which, according to UNCLOS, corresponds pectation of acceleration in ocean research, GA et al., 2019; ÖSTERBLOM et al., 2017).
In the 1990s, the decade of the “new to the seabed and subsoil beyond nation- leading to “blue innovation” (MIT, 2022). Although there is no adequate infor-
international order”, two important agree- al jurisdiction. Until February 2022, the ISA The Blue Technology Barometer Report mation mechanism, of the 1,120 actors in
ments deserve to be highlighted. The 1995 had authorized 22 exploration contracts, (MIT, 2022) ranked the ten leading states the oceanic fishing sector, the 100 largest
182 BLUE ECONOMY Ocean Governance: the Beacons of History 183

