The Nature of the Threat to Offshore Resources

The large scale extension of man´s economic activity into the oceans for extraction of renewable and non-renewable resources, for utilization of the energy stored in the ocean as thermal (solar) energy or mechanical (waver and tides) energy and as an avenue for increased transportation and trade will require the redefinition of existing statutes, the establishment of new statutes and regulations, and the provision of means to enforce and uphold the law, as well as the continued means to uphold the nation´s sovereignty in its territorial and economic seas. It is the intention of this paper to explore instead the nature of the non-military threat to offshore resources and to lay the foundation for subsequent considerations of the maritime law enforcement process, the law enforcement force mix, and the demands which will be made of technology and technologists to support these entities.