The author delimits the boundaries of the Southern Ocean and divides it into three distinct latitudinal zones, namely the temperate, subantarctic and antarctic zones. Taking each zone in turn he then examines its economic significance and potential in terms of shipping routes, mineral resources and fisheries. Probably the most significant economic potential of the Southern Ocean lies in its vast resources of krill, widely considered to be a future major world source of protein, and in the reserves of hydrocarbons known (or suspected) to lie beneath the continental shelves.