I model the ocean as an array of lines set within a two-dimensional frame, and show how the Exclusive Economic Zone emerged as an equilibrium in customary international law. I find that custom codifies the efficient Nash equilibrium of enclosure for nearshore fisheries. For highly migratory and...

As the international law of the sea has developed throughout the centuries, and there has been a growing acceptance of the legitimacy of a range of maritime zones, there has been a need to provide certainty with respect to the freedom of navigation through certain waters. The initial focus was...