§ Mr. Barry FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the reasons why the United Kingdom has delayed the extension of maritime zones in Antarctica.
§ Mr. Garel-JonesThe sea areas around the British Antarctic Territory are included within the scope of Antarctic treaty instruments to which the United Kingdom is a party. These instruments provide a legal regime for sustainable and non-sustainable resources. We see no advantage in extending maritime zones.
§ Mr. Barry FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment his officials have made of the Macquarie island plan.
§ Mr. Garel-JonesWe have studied the Macquarie island nature reserve management plan of 1991 prepared by the Tasmanian Government's department of Parks, Wildlife and Heritage. This provides a prescriptive framework which takes account of the conservation and management needs of that island.
§ Mr. Barry FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to extend the maritime zones of the South Sandwich islands, the South Orkney islands, South Georgia, Gough islands and Shag rocks.
§ Mr. Garel-JonesA fisheries zone of 200 nautical miles has already been created around Gough island as part of the Tristan da Cunha island group. The territorial sea around South Georgia, which includes Shag rocks, and the South Sandwich islands was extended to 12 miles in 1989. The situation is kept under review. There are no plans to extend maritime zones off the British Antarctic Territory which includes the South Orkney islands.
§ Mr. Barry FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) if he will list those Antarctic islands together with their parent country that have had their maritime zones extended; and from what date this took effect in each case;
(2) if he will list those Antarctic islands and their parent country that have not had their maritime zones extended.
§ Mr. Garel-JonesOn the basis of the published information available, it appears that the islands within the Antarctic treaty area and the following sub-Antarctic islands have the fishery zones or economic zones which are listed in the table, with effective dates indicated where available.
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Island Nationality Zone Effective date
Heard Island Australia 200 mile fishing zone
1979 McDonald Island 1979 Macquaire Island 1979 Auckland Island New Zealand 200 mile economic Zone
1977 Campbell Island 1977 Prince Edward Island Republic of South Africa 1977 Marion Island 1977 Crozet Island France 1978 Kerguelan Island 1978 Amsterdam Island 1978 Saint Paul Island 1978