169 Treaty Between the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and The

Treaty between the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and the Republic of Venezuela on the Delimitation of the Marine and Submarine Areas: An Analysis Anselm Francis Institute of International Relations, University of the West Indies, St Augustine, Trinidad In 1942 Britain and Venezuela concluded the Gulf of Paria Treaty, delimiting the submarine areas of the Gulf beyond the territorial sea between themselves. The significance of this Treaty lies in the fact that it was the very first time that any delimitation between states took place beyond the territorial sea. As far as is known, other states did not object to this novel development but it created little impact on their practice. The Gulf of Paria Treaty was limited to the submarine areas,2 the superjacent waters retained their high seas status. Three years after the conclusion of the Gulf of Paria Treaty, President Truman issued his famous Proclamation on the Continental Shelf.3 He claimed on behalf of the United States exclusive rights to the resources lying on the continental shelf contiguous to the coast of the United States. He was very careful not to affect the high seas status of the waters lying above the shelf. Unlike Britain and Venezuela in the Gulf of Paria Treaty, President Truman did not claim sovereignty over the continental shelf; he restricted his claim to rights over the resources. The picture that emerges is of two of the world's major powers in the 1940s extending national jurisdiction beyond the territorial sea, but being careful not to encroach on the high seas. Their objective was similar; they wanted to gain access to the resources on the continental shelf without jeopardizing their high 169 170 seas strategic interests. As a result of new technological developments they had the capability of extracting mineral resources from the shelf4 and were prepared to proceed with haste. But this was not to be at the expense of interfering in any way with the legal status of the high seas. Not all states shared the the British and American veneration for the high seas. In the wake of the 1945 Truman Proclamation the Latin American countries on the Pacific coast of South America claimed a 200 nautical mile maritime zone.5 That zone included waters as well as submarine areas. Such extensive claims did not augur well for the high seas regime. By the late 1960s and early 1970s the Latin American claim, in modified form, was receiving considerable support.6 By that period the erstwhile colonies of Africa, Asia and the Caribbean had become members of the international community and were adamant that the principles of the Law of the Sea should reflect their needs and interests. It was against this background that the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea was convened in 1973. At the Conference no rule was to be accepted as settled; every matter relating to the Law of the Sea was to be discussed and negotiated. The result of this bold and daring approach is that a new Law of the Sea emerged. What should be noted is that every new regime,7 except the deep sea-bed regime, involved the extension of coastal state jurisdiction over marine space. It should not be assumed that Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela were mere bystanders while all these interesting developments were taking place in the Law of the Sea. On the contrary, they contributed positively to these developments both at conferences8 and by the practice which they adopted in their municipal law. In 1956 Venezuela claimed a 12-mile territorial sea,9 Trinidad and Tobago made a similar claim in 1969.1° In 1961 Venezuela ratified the 1958 Geneva Convention on the Continental Shelfll and in 1969 Trinidad and Tobago enacted legislation claiming a continental shelf.12 In 1978 Venezuela declared a 200-mile exclusive economic zone, while Trinidad and Tobago made a similar declaration in 1983, although it was not until three years V'ter that legislationl3 was enacted to give effect to the claim. .

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