International Waters: What Makes The 'Peanut Hole' So Salty?

A country with a coastline can exert legal influence on some of the waters that surround it. Internationally agreed maritime laws allow countries to have complete jurisdiction over waters within 12 nautical miles of their coast (territorial waters), and a few more limited rights over waters within 200 nautical miles; the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Boats of any country can come and go here, but countries can set laws that prevent economic hindrance to their territory, such as the right for international vessels to fish. Beyond this, international waters persist, which are not under the jurisdiction of any country. International waters, or the high seas, are denoted in dark blue on the map below:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:International_waters.svg

As you can imagine, disputes over territorial waters and EEZ can get very complicated, depending on who has jurisdiction over a piece of coast, or even whether an island truly counts as an island. The complexity of a country's maritime jurisdiction only increases if a country is very large, or has many islands.

Russia, being the largest country in the world, and having one of the largest coastlines, is no exception to this. An example of where rules over international waters can get quite sticky is in the Sea of Okhotsk. The sea is surrounded mainly by Russia, and so Russia's EEZ extends 200 nautical miles inwards. This covers almost the entire body of water, except a strip of water in the centre, which measures 35 x 300 miles. This is known colloquially as the 'Peanut Hole'. It is shown below, on a close-up of the Sea of Okhotsk:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Peanut_Hole.jpg

As previously mentioned, boats can enter the EEZ freely, however a country can set down laws such as prohibiting fishing by foreign vessels. Prior to 2014, Russia had no such jurisdiction over the 'Peanut Hole'. the result was some countries- notably Japan, China, South Korea and Poland- entering the region and fishing. This caused quite a headache for Russia, who feared their straddling fish stock, such as Pollock, could be affected. 

Russia ended up petitioning the UN who, in 2014 agreed, and determined the 'Peanut Hole' to be part of a continental shelf that belonged to Russia, and gave them rights to set laws that govern international fishing rights. 

I hope you enjoyed the post. If you want to read more, click 'Follow' on the homepage.