Governing Oceans in a Time of Change. Fishing for the Future?

This incisive book addresses the challenges facing the current institutional framework for governance of high seas fisheries. Marcus Haward identifies significant issues and difficulties affecting the management of fisheries in areas beyond national jurisdiction, as well as highlighting the key role that fishing and fisheries play in global ocean governance.

Through an assessment of the development of regional fisheries organizations and their implementation of management tools, Haward demonstrates their importance in contemporary ocean governance, offering a critical examination of the challenges they face in the pursuit of sustainable fisheries management. The book investigates the ability of regional fisheries bodies to constrain catches and capacity, and explores the factors impacting this, for example, states’ lack of cooperation and failure to commit to effective enforcement, and conflicting interests in resource utilization and conservation.

Governing Oceans in a Time of Change will prove a critical read for scholars and students of environmental policy, management and governance, particularly those with an interest in ocean governance and fisheries. Policymakers and practitioners working in this area will also find this book beneficial.