France Declares 200-Mile EEZ In Mediterrenean, Ostensibly To Protect Fish Stocks - AFP

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France intends to declare an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the Mediterranean in a bid to protect dwindling fish stocks, French Environment Minister Jean-Louis Borloo said Monday. "The French government has decided to declare an EEZ in the Mediterranean ... with a perimeter of approximately 70 nautical miles, corresponding to our existing environmental protection area," Borloo told reporters.

Defined under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, an EEZ lets coastal states extend their jurisdiction beyond their 12-mile territorial waters, up to a maximum of 200 miles.

France, which has the world's second largest EEZ after the United States due to its many overseas territories, had not previously declared an exclusive zone in the Mediterranean "because there was no justification for doing so," Borloo said. Borloo said the French move was aimed at "protecting French fishing, but especially to protect fish" and to "avoid the arrival of powerful industrial fleets in the closed sea of the Mediterranean."

"We are changing policy because it is unacceptable for boats from around the world to be able to draw on resources, especially of fish, anywhere except in the 15-mile territorial waters, without any control," he said.

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