THE POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT

The paucity of research .articles by geographers on the political and planning aspects of the marine environment is evident from review of the geographical literature. It is undoubtedly true that there are some geographers who are involved at all levels of policy making in this region, but the fruits of their efforts have not been made available to a professional audience - fifteen articles in three major U.S. geographical journals in the past 16 years is not very commendable. Since 1958 (the year of the first Geneva Law of the Sea Conference), only five articles have appeared in the Annals which relate to policy making in the marine region. Three of the articles focussed on the international law of sea issues1 ,2,3, while land use on the coastal region of the Great Lakes was the topic of one article.4 Minghi mentioned offshore boundaries only in the context of an overall discussion on types of political boundaries