Authority in Ocean Governance Architecture

In this article, we demonstrate that the ocean is a space of politics and explore the what, who, and how of ocean governance. We first sketch the governance architecture and examine challenges and shortcomings concerning political authority. Starting from a definition of “ocean governance,” we highlight that two fundamentally different regulatory approaches are applied to the ocean: a spatial ordering on the one hand and a sectoral segmentation on the other. States are the central actors regulating the use and protection of marine areas, but state sovereignty is stratified, with diminishing degrees of authority farther from the shoreline. As vast marine spaces are beyond the exclusive control of any given territorial state, political authority beyond areas of national jurisdiction must first be created to enable collective decision-making. Consequently, a multitude of authorities regulate human activities in the ocean, producing overlaps, conflicting policies, and gaps. Based on recent contributions to the fast-growing ocean governance research field, we provide a thematic overview structured along the dimensions of maritime security, protection of the marine environment, and economics to unveil patterns of authority in ocean governance.

[1]  Maria Adelaide Ferreira,et al.  A role for UNEP’s Regional Seas Programme under the post-2020 global biodiversity framework , 2022, Marine Policy.

[2]  N. Giannopoulos Regionalism and Marine Environmental Protection: the Case of Offshore Energy Production , 2021 .

[3]  Daniel Lambach The functional territorialization of the high seas , 2021 .

[4]  I. Adewumi Exploring the Nexus and Utilities Between Regional and Global Ocean Governance Architecture , 2021, Frontiers in Marine Science.

[5]  D. Little,et al.  A 20-year retrospective review of global aquaculture , 2021, Nature.

[6]  P. Dauvergne,et al.  Corporate Governance and the Environmental Politics of Shipping , 2021 .

[7]  Kimberley Peters The territories of governance: unpacking the ontologies and geophilosophies of fixed to flexible ocean management, and beyond , 2020, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B.

[8]  Brice Trouillet,et al.  Bringing ‘Deep Knowledge’ of Fisheries into Marine Spatial Planning , 2020, Maritime Studies.

[9]  R. Tiller,et al.  Stuck in the middle with you (and not much time left): The third intergovernmental conference on biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction , 2020, Marine Policy.

[10]  Hilde M. Toonen,et al.  Uncharted territories in tropical seas? Marine scaping and the interplay of reflexivity and information , 2020 .

[11]  Kevin St. Martin,et al.  Assembling marine spatial planning in the global south: International agencies and the fate of fishing communities in India , 2020 .

[12]  Luke Kemp Climate change and ocean governance: politics and policy for threatened seas , 2020 .

[13]  T. Edmunds,et al.  Beyond seablindness: a new agenda for maritime security studies , 2017, Maritime Security and the Law of the Sea.

[14]  S. Guggisberg The roles of nongovernmental actors in improving compliance with fisheries regulations , 2019, Review of European, Comparative & International Environmental Law.

[15]  Barry J. Ryan The disciplined sea: a history of maritime security and zonation , 2019, International Affairs.

[16]  R. Mahon,et al.  Regional ocean governance: Integrating and coordinating mechanisms for polycentric systems , 2019, Marine Policy.

[17]  Isabel Feichtner Sharing the Riches of the Sea: The Redistributive and Fiscal Dimension of Deep Seabed Exploitation , 2019, European Journal of International Law.

[18]  Joanna Mossop Can we Make the Oceans Greener? The Successes and Failures of UNCLOS as an Environmental Treaty , 2018, Victoria University of Wellington Law Review.

[19]  Genevieve Quirk,et al.  Shades of blue: what do competing interpretations of the Blue Economy mean for oceans governance? , 2018 .

[20]  B. Opeskin,et al.  SECURITIZATION OF SEARCH AND RESCUE AT SEA: THE RESPONSE TO BOAT MIGRATION IN THE MEDITERRANEAN AND OFFSHORE AUSTRALIA , 2018, International and Comparative Law Quarterly.

[21]  E. Cusumano,et al.  Security privatisation at sea: Piracy and the commercialisation of vessel protection , 2017 .

[22]  M. Koo Belling the Chinese Dragon at Sea: Western Theories and Asian Realities , 2017 .

[23]  Christoph Humrich Coping with Institutional Challenges for Arctic Environmental Governance , 2017 .

[24]  Kjell Grip,et al.  International marine environmental governance: A review , 2016, Ambio.

[25]  Jennifer J. Silver,et al.  Global Oceans Governance: New and Emerging Issues , 2016 .

[26]  Michael Elliott,et al.  Is existing legislation fit-for-purpose to achieve Good Environmental Status in European seas? , 2016, Marine pollution bulletin.

[27]  Laura Pantzerhielm,et al.  Emerging Governance Architectures in Global Health: Do Metagovernance Norms Explain Inter-Organisational Convergence? , 2016 .

[28]  M. Gilek Governing Europe's Marine Environment : Europeanization of Regional Seas or Regionalization of EU Policies? , 2016 .

[29]  J. V. Leeuwen,et al.  The regionalization of maritime governance: Towards a polycentric governance system for sustainable shipping in the European Union , 2015 .

[30]  Aletta Mondré Forum Shopping in International Disputes , 2015 .

[31]  R. Billé,et al.  Regional Oceans Governance Mechanisms: A Review , 2015 .

[32]  Liesbet Hooghe,et al.  Delegation and pooling in international organizations , 2015 .

[33]  Basil Germond,et al.  The geopolitical dimension of maritime security , 2015 .

[34]  Kimberley Peters,et al.  Wet Ontologies, Fluid Spaces: Giving Depth to Volume through Oceanic Thinking , 2015 .

[35]  J. V. Tatenhove,et al.  Marine Governance of the North Sea: Patterns of Regionalization , 2015 .

[36]  Nina Maier Coordination and cooperation in the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive and the US National Ocean Policy , 2014 .

[37]  Michael Zürn,et al.  Commentary: On Fragmentation, Differentiation, and Coordination , 2013, Global Environmental Politics.

[38]  J. V. Tatenhove,et al.  How to turn the tide: Developing legitimate marine governance arrangements at the level of the regional seas , 2013 .

[39]  M. Finnemore The Culture of National Security : Norms and Identity in World Politics , 2011 .

[40]  P. Pattberg,et al.  The Fragmentation of Global Governance Architectures: A Framework for Analysis , 2009, Global Environmental Politics.

[41]  Elizabeth R. DeSombre Global Environmental Institutions , 2006 .

[42]  J. Greenberg TURN THE TIDE , 2000 .