News

Ocean governance is characterised by a lack of equity in terms of inclusivity and meaningful participation by diverse actors. Our Perspective paper uses four different case studies to demonstrate how the exercise of power can lead to inequitable outcomes in ocean governance. In doing so, we acknowledge and validate the experience of those who are on the receiving end of exercised power and are regularly facing the challenges described in this paper.

From the 8th to the 12th of May the members of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) met for the 27th Session in Mauritius and ANCORS attended this meeting as an observer. This year’s key issues were the management of drifting Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) and the need to reduce the allocated catch for yellowfin tuna and bigeye tuna, which are both currently overfished and overfishing is occurring.

The study, published in Science Advances, found that these squid fishing vessels fished largely (86%) in unregulated areas, equating to 4.4 million total hours of fishing time between 2017-2020. While unregulated fishing is not necessarily illegal, it presents challenges for fisheries sustainability and resource equity, and has been connected to questionable human rights and labor practices.

ANCORS attends the first face-to-face Commission meeting of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission since COVID-19

ANCORS attends the first face-to-face Commission meeting of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission since COVID-19

ANCORS researchers Kamal Azmi and Quentin Hanich, together with Global Fishing Watch, held a workshop in July 2022 with vessel operators and other experts to strengthen understanding of these sensitivities around data sharing and to ensure that efforts to improve transparency do not undermine these concerns.

The 2022 meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) was held from 24 October to 4 November at the Commission headquarters in Hobart. This was the first meeting for Ecuador as a member of the Commission. Ecuador’s admission brings the total number of Commission members to 27.

Negotiations for a new treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in the 2/3 of the ocean that lies beyond national jurisdiction

It is our pleasure to introduce the new Ocean Equity Research Website. We’re looking forward to sharing updates on our current programs and announcements on future projects.