Why did countries declare exclusive economic zones of up to 200 nautical miles?
Upvote:4
Read about the Tragedy of the Commons. It is a well understood economic observation that any resource left unmanaged will tend to be over exploited, as it is in the individual self-interest to do so. When combined with the basic observation, in life as well as child-rearing, that one should never make idle threats, the question you ask really should be turned on its head.
Given the imperative to attempt management of resources, to protect their economic value, why did it take so long for EEZ's to expand to the (new) limit to which they could reasonably enforced?
Upvote:5
The ideas behind the EEZ are put forward quite well in this proclamation by President Harry S Truman in 1947
"Having concern for the urgency of conserving and prudently utilizing its natural resources, the Government of the United States regards the natural resources of the subsoil and sea bed of the continental shelf beneath the high seas but contiguous to the coasts of the United States as appertaining to the United States, subject to its jurisdiction and control."
The apparent reasons stated - the conservation and prudent use of natural resources.
EDIT:
Since this relates to resources of the subsoil and sea bed of the continental shelf, it is reasonable to assume that one such resource could be oil.
HT to @T.E.D. for pointing this out!
..........................
@LennartRegebro @Kobunite Correct! The proclamation by Truman does not specify any particular resource, which also means it does not exclude any particular resource. More importantly, the proclamation asserts the right of the US to conserve/use some areas. This assertion may have been important for Chile/Peru when they made their claims.
More post
- 📝 Was prostitution legal in the Kingdom of Israel during the reign of Solomon?
- 📝 Why are the USA and Canada's states border so straight?
- 📝 Why do some sections of Great Wall of China seem to be bidirectional?
- 📝 What tactic/strategy won Napoleon the six-day campaign
- 📝 Could the Confederates have done better at Gettysburg if they had put cavalry in front of, rather than behind, Pickett's charge?
- 📝 Where is (or was) the biggest medieval drawbridge?
- 📝 How could Stutthof's inmates reach Palmnicken?
- 📝 Is the expression "Seal of" on the Seal of the POTUS redundant?
- 📝 What made the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb such a significant archeological find?
- 📝 How did the Druids learn the Greek language by the time of Caesar's campaign in Gaul?
- 📝 What is the role of towers in Romanesque architecture?
- 📝 Why did Michigan abolish capital punishment so early?
- 📝 Why didn't the Black Death made the peasants more desperate and more accepting of exploitation?
- 📝 Why did the island of Bali remain Hindu when most of the rest of Indonesia converted to Islam?
- 📝 Why did the Athenian expedition to Sicily fail?
- 📝 What was the role/duties of a "Constable of the Castle" in 1600?
- 📝 Did families heading west ever settle along the Oregon Trail (instead of at the final destination)?
- 📝 Why were Japanese escort ships not numerous at the battle of Bismarck Sea?
- 📝 In England in 1700, would defending property with lethal force be illegal at all?
- 📝 Why didn't Spain and Portugal become industrial powerhouses in the 20th century?
- 📝 Were high wages the root cause of the industrial revolution?
- 📝 After turndown by North America, did Jewish refugee ships try to secretly beach and live somewhere uninhabited?
- 📝 What was the estimated malaria death toll for US Forces during World War II?
- 📝 What are the historical reasons for the conventional map orientation?
- 📝 Why was the Tea Horse Route through Tibet less prevalent than the Silk Road route through Tarim Basin, for contact between China and India?
- 📝 "Musketeer" beard, mustache and hairdress - where did they originate?
- 📝 Did drawbacks of egalitarianism or mismanagement cause the rural famine in the Great Leap Forward?
- 📝 What was the first fossil fuel pipeline in the Soviet Union?
- 📝 What effect did the Bronze Age collapse have on India?
- 📝 What's the reason behind the 17th century tradition of British monarchs being depicted on coins facing in the opposite direction to their predecessor?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Why did countries declare exclusive economic zones of up to 200 nautical miles?
- 📝 Why did Britain and France not declare war against the Soviet Union when it invaded Poland in WW2?
- 📝 Why did Hitler declare war on the USA?
- 📝 Why did the person in charge of a principality not just declare themself king?
- 📝 Why did people in some countries start to drive on the right?
- 📝 Why did Russian Federation declare independence from Soviet Union?
- 📝 Why didn't Zheng He colonize the countries he explored like what the Europeans did to the New World?
- 📝 Why did so many countries agree to the Non-Proliferation Treaty?
- 📝 Why and when did countries develop long names that include the form of government?
- 📝 Why did European countries become more economically advanced than non European countries?
- 📝 Why did Europeans and Asian countries develop much faster than African countries
- 📝 Did countries use insurance to compensate for their economic losses after the Black Death/Spanish flu/Asian flu?
- 📝 Why did China and some other communist countries boycot the 1980 Summer Olympics?
- 📝 Why there were no economic sanction wars against Warsaw Pact countries by the West?
- 📝 Why did conquered countries after WWII recover, but countries conquered later continue suffering?
- 📝 Why did Hitler attack the Soviet Union when he was still busy fighting the United Kingdom?
- 📝 Why did Native Americans die from European diseases while Europeans didn't catch serious diseases from the New World?
- 📝 Why did the Confederacy think they could win the American Civil War?
- 📝 Why did archery not make a comeback when armor was phased out in the 18th century?
- 📝 Why did North America economically prosper, and maintain stable government and South/Central America didn't?
- 📝 Why did the British scuttle the u-boats surrendered after WWII?
- 📝 Why exactly did telegraphs have to use "STOP" instead of a period and "QUOTE" instead of a quotation mark? (Or special codes.)
- 📝 Why did Canada not join the American Revolution?
- 📝 Why did Churchill order the destruction of the bombes?
- 📝 Why did the USSR give Crimea to Ukraine?
- 📝 Why did the Western Roman Empire collapse but not the Eastern Roman Empire?
- 📝 Why did stock brokers go bankrupt after the crash of 1929?
- 📝 Why did the Germans spare Allied troops trapped at Dunkirk?
- 📝 Why did Columbus cross the mid-Atlantic instead of exploring from Greenland?
- 📝 Why did LBJ, a staunch segregationist, champion and sign the 1964 Civil Rights Bill?