FCMZ, EPPZ & MPA

Fisheries Conservation and Management Zone / Environment (Protection and Preservation) Zone.

The United Kingdom Government is responsible for the foreign affairs of the British Indian Ocean Territory and has not claimed an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) for the territory. Instead it claims an Fisheries Conservation and Management Zone and an Environment (Protection and Preservation) Zone.

The outer limits of both these zones is 200 nautical miles, but in the north, the UK claim is up to a median line between the Chagos and the Maldives. This is disputed by the Republic of the Maldives whose own EEZ overlaps the BIOT claims. This dispute remains unresolved.

A Fisheries Zone was first claimed in 1969 [BIOT Proclamation No 1 of 1969] from the outer limit of the territorial sea (3 nautical miles) to a distance seaward of 12 nautical miles. In 1991 the zone was extended to 200 nautical miles [BIOT Proclamation No 1 of 1991] and named the Fisheries Conservation and Management Zone (FCMZ).

The Environment (Preservation and Protection) Zone (EPPZ) was claimed in 2003 [BIOT Proclamation No of 2003] and formally declared to the United Nations. Like the FCMZ its inner boundary is the outer limit of the territorial seas which remains at 3 nautical miles.

Marine Protected Area

A Chagos Islands Marine Protected Area (MPA) was proclaimed by the BIOT Commissioner on 1 April 2010 [Proclamation No 1 of 2010 - see file below for full text]. This lies within the EPPZ and has the same boundaries.

To date there is no specific legislation for the MPA and it has only been stated informally that the MPA does not include the island of Diego Garcia and its 3nm territorial sea.

On 20 December 2010, the Mauritian Government initiated proceedings against the UK Government under UNCLOS to challenge the legality of the MPA. The case was heard by an Arbitral Tribunal constituted under Annex VII (see the Arbitral Tribunal page for further details). The MPA was also challenged by Chagossians who alleged that it was a device by the UK Government to prevent their return to the Islands and ignored their historical fishing rights. The case was heard by the English Courts (see the Bancoult 3 page for further details).

At a meeting on 23 March 2012 of the Marine Science Co-ordination Committee Meeting at DEFRA (Department for the Environment and Rural Affairs) the then Head of the BIOT Section at the FCO, John McManus, informed attendees that the "sensitive political background, with the ongoing legal cases, has meant that the development of the MPA has been held back to a certain extent."

Links:

International Law Observer 2 Apr 2010

International Law Observer - 10 Jan 2012 - Decision on Challenge to Arbitrator in Chagos Dispute

Permanent Court of Arbitration - The Republic of Mauritius v. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland