Despite claims of UNCLOS opponents, resource exploitation in the extended continental shelf is legally impossible outside of UNCLOS

UNCLOS opponents argue, almost sophomorically, that the United States already enjoys and exercises full jurisdiction and control over its ECS and thus does not need the approval of an international bureaucratic body such as the CLCS.⁷³ The authority for this position derives primarily from a reliance on customary international law, US domestic law, and bilateral maritime delimitation treaties the United States has entered into.⁷⁴ Admittedly, this argument is doctrinally difficult to overcome if one simply chooses to rely on a strong US Navy to project power and assert US interests. However, in spite of a misguided reliance on “hard power”,⁷⁵ a misunderstanding of customary international law,” and the misapplication of article 76; the practical considerations put forth by US industry make resource exploitation in the US ECS-outside of the UNCLOS framework—a nearly unattainable objective.