AK SJR13

Alaska Legislature urges the United States Senate to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, pending since 1994.

The Convention permits member nations to claim an exclusive economic zone extending 200 nautical miles from shore with sovereign rights to explore and develop living and nonliving resources, including deep sea mining.

The United States Arctic Research Commission estimates ratification would allow the United States to claim an area of northern seabed off Alaska equal in size to California beyond the current 200-mile exclusive economic zone.

The United States is the only Arctic nation that has not ratified the Convention despite 155 other nations doing so, including all U.S. allies and world maritime powers.

Without ratification, the United States cannot promote claims to extended continental shelf areas, refute other nations' Arctic claims, take a permanent seat on the International Seabed Authority Council, or participate in deliberations on Arctic resources, scientific research, navigation rules, and environmental concerns.