The exclusive economic zone is the zone where the U.S. and other coastal nations have jurisdiction over economic and resource management

This map shows the U.S. exclusive economic zone (Courtesy: NOAA Fisheries Service). Click for full image.

More specifically, the EEZ includes waters three to 200 miles (five to 322 kilometers) offshore (or nine to 200 miles – 14.5 to 322 kilometers – offshore in western Florida and Texas). Coastal states are responsible for inshore waters out to three miles (five kilometers) of the coast (or nine miles, 14.5 kilometers, off the west coast of Florida and off Texas).

Within the EEZ, the U.S. has

• sovereign rights for the purpose of exploring, exploiting, conserving and managing natural resources, whether living and nonliving, of the seabed and subsoil and the superjacent waters and with regard to other activities for the economic exploitation and exploration of the zone, such as the production of energy from the water, currents and winds;
• jurisdiction as provided for in international law with regard to the establishment and use of artificial islands, installations, and structures, marine scientific research, and the protection and preservation of the marine environment, and
• other rights and duties provided for under international law (Presidential Proclamation No. 5030 of March 10, 1983).

For more information:
Office of Coast Survey
Download EEZ Limits