Knowra Peanut Hole Peanut Hole The Peanut Hole was a pocket of international waters in the central Sea of Okhotsk, surrounded by Russia’s exclusive economic zone. Its legal status enabled distant-water fleets to fish there before it was enclosed by expanded Russian maritime claims.
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea : The international treaty that establishes rules for maritime zones, navigation, and ocean-resource rights. Its rules shaped the distinction between Russia’s exclusive economic zone and the high seas in the Sea of Okhotsk.
Continental shelf : The submerged prolongation of a coastal state’s land territory, over which it has seabed resource rights. Russia’s continental-shelf entitlement extended beneath the hole without initially making its waters Russian.
Doughnut hole (Barents Sea) : A former high-seas pocket in the Barents Sea, surrounded by the exclusive economic zones of Norway and Russia. Like the Peanut Hole, it exposed how high-seas pockets could invite unregulated fishing.
Territorial sea : A coastal belt of sea, generally extending up to 12 nautical miles, over which a state exercises sovereignty. Unlike territorial waters, the Peanut Hole’s surrounding high seas were not originally under Russian sovereignty.
Exclusive economic zone : A maritime zone extending up to 200 nautical miles from a coast, where a state has specified resource rights. Russia’s surrounding zone made the Peanut Hole an isolated pocket of high seas.
Maritime boundary : A legally defined line separating the maritime zones or jurisdiction of neighboring states. Boundaries around the Sea of Okhotsk created the pocket’s enclosed shape.
Distant-water fishing fleet : A fishing fleet operating far from its home port, often in another country’s waters or on the high seas. Distant-water fleets exploited the Peanut Hole’s high-seas access, particularly for pollock.
Area (international seabed) : The seabed and subsoil beyond national jurisdiction, governed as the common heritage of humankind. The Peanut Hole’s seabed became part of Russia’s continental shelf, not the international seabed Area.
High seas : Ocean areas beyond the jurisdiction of any state’s territorial sea or exclusive economic zone. The Peanut Hole’s status as high seas allowed foreign vessels to fish there.
Freedom of fishing : The traditional freedom to fish on the high seas, subject to international conservation rules. This freedom attracted foreign fleets to the Peanut Hole before its closure.
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