insights

Analysis
By Dr. M.Rezah Badal
Continental Shelf,
Maritime Zones Administration &
Exploration, Prime Minister’s Office
Ocean Economy
The Joint Management Area:
A new
Challenge
at the Frontier
The Joint Management
Area (JMA) has a
fascinating geological origin
and represents for both
Mauritius and Seychelles
a new maritime jurisdiction
of immense potential for
living and non-living marine
resources; opening the
respective economic spaces.
In March 2011, the United Nations
Commission on the Limits of
the Continental Shelf (UNCLCS)
adopted the recommendations
which conferred upon the Republic
of Mauritius and the Republic of
Seychelles, the joint jurisdiction
over an area of the seabed and its
underlying sub-soil in the Mascarene
Plateau region. Indeed, Mauritius
and Seychelles were among the
first nations to have made a Joint
Submission in 2009 to the UNCLCS
and to successfully obtain joint
jurisdiction on an area of extended
continental shelf in the Indian Ocean.
Beyond the 200 EEZ
nautical miles
This area, known as the Joint
Management Area (JMA), excludes
the water column and the living
organisms above the shelf and
extends beyond the two hundreds
nautical miles Exclusive Economic
Zone of the respective two coastal
States. Located in the North-East of
the Islands of St Brandon and South
East of the Island Coëtivy, the JMA
covers an extent of approximately
400,000 square kilometers and
includes the whole of the ‘Saya de
Malha’ Bank and the ‘Correira’ Bank
Rise on the Mascarene Plateau.
In an effort to further demonstrate the
willingness to collaborate, the two
Coastal States signed two treaties to
jointly manage the area. The first one
is the Treaty concerning the Joint
Exercise of Sovereign Rights over the
Continental Shelf in the Mascarene
“The Joint Management
Area of the Extended
Continental Shelf in
the Mascarene Plateau
Region constitutes a
model for the whole
world.”
Plateau Region and it sets out the
coordinates of latitude and longitude
which define the boundary of the
area of the Joint Zone. The second
is the Treaty concerning the Joint
Management of the Continental
Shelf in the Mascarene Plateau
Region and provides an effective and
equitable framework to govern the
joint management of the extended
continental shelf through a threetiered
joint administrative structure.
This consists of a Ministerial
Council composed of an equal
number of ministers from both
States, a Joint Commission also
consisting of an equal number of
commissioners appointed by the
two States to establish policies and
regulations relating to exploration
and exploitation of natural resource
activities in the Joint Zone. Finally, a
Designated Authority is responsible
to the Joint Commission to carry
out the day-to-day regulation and
management of natural resource
activities within the Joint Zone.
Preservation of the
biological and physical
diversities
The development of the JMA offers
challenges and opportunities for
the present and future generations.
It is evident that investment in
the JMA should be in accordance
with fundamental principles of
equity, efficiency, safety and in
rigid compliance to international
conventions concerning the ocean
environment. With the strong
commitment to balancing the
preservation of the biological and
physical diversities, the two States
have elaborated a legal framework
comprising a Joint Fiscal and
Taxation Code, model agreements
for exploration and exploitation
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