U.S. has failed to enact national plan to protect oceans in line with UNCLOS because of concerns over local sovereignty

Rather than implement a comprehensive national plan designed to comply with the new global "legal order" establishing marine protection, the United States maintains an ad hoc approach to ocean environmental regulation. The United States reacts to specific ecological problems when drafting domestic legislation and when negotiating international agreements. Far from being comprehensive, the U.S. scheme of ocean environmental protection is "scattered," problem-specific, and often contradictory.⁷⁷

The United States' desire to assert national sovereignty over the ocean space is the basis for legislation regulating the use and protection of ocean resources.⁷⁸ Its refusal to cooperate with neighboring countries in negotiating ocean environmental policies and access to ocean resources stems from an unwillingness to compromise that sovereignty.⁷⁹