The United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), also called the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea Treaty, is an international agreement that establishes a legal framework for all marine and maritime activities. As of June 2016, 167 countries and the European Union are parties. To get a better understanding of how UNCLOS is structured we found this chart extremely helpful at the top of this page.

For most of us, it can be confusing to understand where national and international rules overlap and which convention is in charge of what. We have a few blogs that go a bit deeper into explaining different conventions and agreements you commonly hear about, such as CITES, IUSN red lists, ESA, and so on: US Laws, Treaties, Acts, and more and What sharks are protected under what law?.