Changing seas, changing institutions: Charting new courses into the future

Abstract

The establishment of the 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs), extending coastal state jurisdiction to cover an increasingly large part of the worlds oceans, constitutes a global sea change. Driven partly by state practice, partly by a series of law of the sea conferences under the auspices of the United Nations (UN), the culmination of this development was the establishment of EEZs from the 1970s onwards. The goal of this book has been to analyse some of the institutional consequences emerging from the change from an ocean governance regime based on open access to one based on extended coastal state jurisdiction in the form of EEZs. In doing so, we have focused on the governance effects of EEZs, that is, the way the establishment of EEZs has enabled coastal states to develop domestic institutions to enhance the sustainable use of the oceans and their resources, and in addition develop international cooperation to facilitate these efforts. The creation of the global EEZ regime would not have far-reaching consequences if the process had not been accompanied by changes in national and international institutions that capitalised on and gave effect to the rights and obligations established by the EEZs. We have presented case studies of EEZ-based regimes from a variety of geographical, ecological, socio-economic, and cultural settings to examine the dynamic relationship between EEZ-based regimes and fisheries regimes. In addition, this volume has considered the international framework that domestic ocean governance takes place within. In this final chapter we take stock of where we have been, where we are and where we are heading with respect to ocean management. The research questions that we have sought to address in this volume are: 1. What is the nature of the institutions that coastal states have created within the framework provided by the EEZs? 2. How has the creation of the EEZs affected the vertical interplay among institutions at different levels of social organisation (i.e., international, national, traditional and co-management regimes) and the horizontal interplay among institutions focused on different functional arenas (i.e., trade, environment and fisheries)? 3. How has the development of EEZ-based regimes affected the fit of marine resource management institutions with biophysical systems? The first question is descriptive by nature, while the latter two address the analytical issues at the core of this volume. The EEZ by itself is an enabling institution, in that it creates a contractual environment that facilitates the establishment of legislation and institutions to perform the operative tasks involved in the management of living marine resources. We have assessed the institutional performance of the EEZs on the basis of their ability to generate a suite of institutions capable of providing for the sustainable use of living marine resources. Because of this, we have focused primarily on the governance effects of EEZs.2 The case studies in this volume are not a comprehensive selection of the more than 100 countries that have instituted EEZ regimes and we do not claim that these cases constitute an exhaustive basis from which broad generalisations can be made regarding the nature of governance effects following the introduction of EEZs. But we do believe that the cases presented here have provided salient insights and lessons and have relevance that extends beyond the individual cases. In addition, we believe that these case studies have illuminated several trends in the evolution of governance systems.