The Gulf of Maine Case and the Future of Ocean Boundary Delimitation

On October 12, 1984, a Chamber of the International Court of Justice handed down its decision in the Case Concerning the Delimitation of the Maritime Boundary in the Gulf of Maine Area (Can. v. U.S.). By a vote of four to one, the Chamber described in geodetic lines the course of the single maritime boundary that divides the continental shelf and exclusive fishery zones of Canada and the United States in that area. The Chamber's decision ended more than a decade of conflict between the two countries concerning jurisdiction over continental shelf and fishery resources in the Georges Bank area. The boundary dispute resolved by the Chamber in the Gulf of Maine Case involved overlapping claims to continental shelf and superjacent waters in the Gulf of Maine region, extending seaward from the coast to a distance of approximately 200 miles. The disputed area covered about forty-two percent of Georges Bank. The location of the boundary has considerable significance for both the United States and Canada because of the known fish yields and the potential oil and gas reserves of the area. Georges Bank is one of the richest fishing grounds in the world, producing about twice as much as the North Sea, four times as much as the Grand Banks, and five times as much as the northeast Arctic. The disputed sector is one of Georges Bank's most productive areas. The amount of oil and gas reserves under Georges Bank, in general, and the disputed sector, in particular, will not be known until considerable exploratory drilling and actual development take place. Experienced geologists have made estimates of potential oil and gas reserves, but their accuracy is uncertain, at best. Existing estimates do indicate, however, that oil and gas deposits may be substantial.