Protection of Marine Resources in the Seabed: International Perspective

Earth appears to be blue as seventy percent is covered by water which consist of living and non-living organisms, minerals, gases and metals especially found in the seabed. A major portion of the seabed is yet left unexplored. But whatever explored so far is posing existence issues due to the overexploitation and uncontrolled events happened in the seabed. This may be a nuclear testing, emplacement of weapons or deep-sea mining or even the scientific research. Due to the density variation and high vacuum level in the water it is often cumbersome to find what is happening even in the seabed under the territorial control of the nation. This paper discusses various concepts with respect to protection of marine environment and analyse the existing legislative framework at the international level to protect the marine resources in the seabed. The paper further gives thrust to the role of international institutional and judicial framework in enhancing protection of marine resources. The paper critically analyses how far the existing laws are capable of protecting marine environment at international level and put forth suggestions for better protection.