Glossary: L

land-locked and geographically disadvantaged States	INDEX
According to the LOS Convention, a land-locked State is a "State having no sea-coast" (Art. 124(1)(a)); and geographically disadvantaged States are coastal States whose geographical situation makes them dependent upon the exploitation of the living resources of the exclusive economic zones of other States in the subregion or region for adequate supplies of fish for the nutritional purposes of their populations or parts thereof, and coastal States which can claim no exclusive economic zones of their own. The concept of the land-locked State is well established in conventional and customary international law, although the concept of geographically disadvantaged States is relatively more recent, essentially being a product of UNCLOS III. Such States are given certain rights such as certain (limited) rights to participate in the exploitation of the living resources of the region or subregion (Arts. 69-72); traditional rights of maritime communication (e.g., Arts. 17, 58, 87, 90); and, in the case of land-locked States, a number of other rights such as the right of access to the sea through the territories of transit States (Art. 125).

large marine ecosystem (LME) IMAGE	INDEX
The term 'large marine ecosystem' is used to refer to one of forty-nine ecosystems which have been identified in the world's oceans. The minimum size of these units is taken to be about 60,000 square nautical miles, such as the Faeroe Plateau LME, with the largest - the South China Sea ecosystem - extending to nearly 900 000 square miles. Most of the LMEs recognized so far are almost entirely within EEZs. LMEs are as much management constructions as biological phenomena.

longline fishing IMAGE	INDEX
Longlines consist of a main line or rope which is anchored horizontally above the seabed with baited hooks on branch lines running off at periodic intervals. There are two main varieties of long-lining. Surface long lines consist of a main line that can be many kilometres long that is supported in the water by a series of floats. Off the main line are branch lines up to 50 metres long. Each branch line carries a baited hook. There can be up to 3000 hooks on a longline. Bottom longlines are similar in concept to surface longlines but are significantly shorter in length. At one end the line contains an anchor which is dropped to the sea floor and at the other end a is weight attached. Long-lining is generally used for catching demersal species of fish, although surface long lines are sometimes used to catch tuna. The quality of the catch is generally good because the fish are not crushed together as they would be in a net, although longlines are known to be indiscriminate among species of a certain size, not least being sharks, and are also associated with high levels of incidental mortality of birds.

long-term potential catch	INDEX
The largest annual harvest in weight that could be removed from a fish stock year after year, under existing environmental conditions. This can be estimated in various ways, from maximum values from production models to average observed catches over a suitable period of years.