Resource-rich Sea of Okhotsk all Russian, UN confirms

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Resource-rich Sea of Okhotsk all Russian - News - Russia - The Voice of Russia: News, Breaking news, Politics, Economics, Business, Russia, International current events, Expert opinion, podcasts, Video

The Sea of Okhotsk is Russia's property now. The UN Commission has recognized the Sea of Okhotsk enclave stretching for 52,000 square kilometres part of the Russian continental shelf. It is a final decision, and it will never be reconsidered. And of course, it is a historic decision, which will help this country to uphold its right to the expansion of the continental shelf in the Arctic, Russia's Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Sergei Donskoi said.

After Russia filed a relevant application in 2001, it waited for 13 years for this decision to be passed. Russia made claims to the area of the Sea of Okhotsk in accordance with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). According to the UN Convention, any state is allowed to expand its 200- mile economic zone on condition that the seabed outside it is the natural continuation of the edge of the land. The enclave where earlier the fishing vessels of all countries moved freely is under Russia's jurisdiction now. This will be helpful in combating poaching and also in protecting the natural riches of the continental shelf, Head of the Department of Ichthyology at the All-Russia Scientific-Research Institute of Fishing Industry and Oceanography Oleg Bulatov says.

"Russia's mineral and biological resources are concentrated on the continental shelf. Since earlier this part of the water area remained uncontrollable, black halibut, redfish and crab fishing remained uncontrollable as well. The fact that the continental shelf is Russia's property now is a great victory of all those who contributed to Russia's gaining property of the continental shelf."

According to Russia's Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the amount of oil extracted at the Magadan Shelf of the Sea of Okhotsk ranges from 1.5 to 2 .5 billion tons and gas condensate - up to 4.5 trillion cubic metres. Besides, the Magadan Shelf is rich in coal, brown coal and precious metals.

The decision of the UN Commission is only the first step towards broadening the Russian shelf in the Arctic, and a relevant application will be submitted to it this autumn, Russia's Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Sergei Donskoi said.

"The work with the UN Commission has enabled us to establish constructive relations with our partners. We plan to file a relevant application involving the Arctic Shelf this autumn. There is much work to do, and this work is of great importance for this country because the Arctic shelf is rich in minerals and bio-resources."

Russia is currently holding talks with countries which are also making claims to the enclave in the Arctic, the minister stressed. Its partners want the territories of the continental shelf to be marked in conformity with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Besides Russia, the US, Canada, Norway, and Denmark are drafting relevant applications due to be filed to the UN Commission.

However, no matter what its decision is, international cooperation is needed for the development of deposits in this region, Director of the Russian State Arctic and Antarctic Museum Viktor Boyarsky says.

"We should acknowledge that technologically, it is a labor-intensive process – therefore, big investments will be needed to give it a boost. In any case, the development of the deposits on the continental shelf will be carried out by the efforts of several states, and joint enterprises will be set up because the development of deposits on the continental shelf is costly and unsafe.

In 2001 Russia filed a single application involving the shelf borders in the Sea of Okhotsk and the Arctic to the UN Commission. However, after its claims were rejected in 2004, Russia decided to continue its efforts aimed at obtaining the previously mentioned territories, acting step by step.

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How is this recognition of Sea of Okhotsk as Russian continental shelf significant? Japan has always been opposed to Russian claims for this Okhotsk enclave. Apart from Okhotsk being a Far East bonanza of plentiful precious minerals and natural resources, it borders Japan who's in dispute with Russia over South Kurils.

Historically Japan held Kurils and Southern Sakhalin prior to WW2.