Summary and Background Terminology describing marine areas UK Continental Shelf
29.References to areas of the sea within the UK sector of the continental shelf are always references to the area of sea outside the UK territorial sea but within an area specified in an order having effect under section 1(7) of the Continental Shelf Act 1964. Rights in the continental shelf extend to mineral and other non-living resources of the seabed and subsoil together with living organisms belonging to sedentary species.