A Study On Legal Mechanism Of High Seas Marine Protected Areas

The area of the high seas is close to two-thirds of the total area of the ocean on earth.It is an important habitat for marine living resources.With the intensified impact of human activities on the marine environment,states and international organizations have gradually established relevant systems for the protection of environmental resources concerning the high seas.The measures are focused on addressing the marine environment problems with serious loss of biological species and increasing ecological destruction;however,based on the free system of the high seas,existing international legal systems such as regional arrangements and sectoral international conventions are no longer able to meet the current stage.With regard to the protection of the biological resources of the high seas,states are also negotiating an implementation agreement under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea on purpose of protection the biological diversity on the high seas.At present,states have expressed that the global network of protected marine areas on the high seas should be built within the existing framework of international law.Looking back at the existing framework of international law on marine protected areas on the high seas and their functional departments,global international treaties such as the UN Convention on Law of the Sea,the Convention on Biological Diversity and its documents have already provided preliminary regulations and discussions on marine protected areas on the high seas;sectoral treaties have also covered fisheries,navigation,specialized animal protection,marine pollutions,climate change,and so on.A comprehensive system of management of the protected areas of the high seas should be sorted out from such an intricate system of international law in the high seas,and the mentioned fragmented sectoral conventions and global conventions still need to be analyzed.The law system of marine protected areas on the high seas should take full advantage of the existing international law.Among them,an important part is to conduct research on the existing cases of marine protected areas on the high seas and gain experience in international cooperation and data sharing,so that the global network of marine protected areas on the high seas can be legally established with existing international law and international organizations.Establishing a global governance mechanism will make the establishment,management,implementation and supervision of marine protected areas on the high seas smoother in the future.After a comprehensive analysis of the existing international legal system and the practice of high-level protected areas between states,the final part of the paper integrates the actual role of existing international law in the establishment,management,implementation,and supervision of high seas protected areas;then,the paper makes suggestions on building long-term and stable co-operations between the legal system of marine protected areas on high seas and the current international legal system,and on filling of missing parts of current international law,mainly on the conflicts of interest in the design of marine protected areas on the high seas.The paper makes analysis and suggestions to improve the global network of marine protected areas on the high seas and to make up for existing systemic ravines.