The legal status of Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas (PSSAs): Challenges and improvements for PSSA resolutions

Abstract As an area‐based management tool, the concept of the Particularly Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA) has played a significant role in protecting the marine environment and marine ecosystems from threats posed by international shipping activities. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) allows a coastal State to adopt various associated protective measures in a proposed PSSA for the protection of the marine environment and the conservation of biological diversity. Yet PSSAs remain controversial, as they are based on IMO resolutions, which are not legally binding. To examine the legal status of a PSSA, this article analyses the legal effects of IMO resolutions, their relationship with Part XII of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and the application of the precautionary principle. Furthermore, the article examines limitations of PSSAs and suggests how the effectiveness of PSSAs in preventing vessel‐source pollution could be strengthened. The article concludes by referring to the necessity of revision of the PSSA resolutions to clarify the legal status of PSSAs.