WORT 89.9FM Madison · UN Reaches Accord On High Seas Treaty

It’s a common trope in seafaring action movies.  The hero, kidnapped by bad guys, says, “You’ll never get away with this!”  In response, the piratical chief villain sneers, “We’re in international waters, there is no law here.”  Like many cliches, this one contains a grain of truth.  However, the traditionally unregulated high seas, defined as 230 miles from any shore, became a little less lawless on March 5.  That’s when a team of international negotiators at the United Nations declared they had reached a consensus on a landmark high seas treaty.  The treaty focuses on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in the high seas.  Marcel Jaspars teaches biochemistry at the Marine Biodiscovery Centre at the University of Aberdeen, and was one of the participants in the marathon negotiations.  Marcel Jaspars joins us now from Aberdeen, Scotland.

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