Recently, I was invited to present a series of lectures on biogeography and biodiversity aboard a small expedition ship, where I was responsible for my own educational program. This time, I decided to take a bold step and introduce a topic that wouldn’t typically find its way into an expedition cruise’s edutainment schedule. Inspired by Ian Urbina’s powerful book The Outlaw Ocean and my own experiences at sea, I prepared a presentation on the darker side of the world’s oceans.
To prepare the talk, I delved into the murky waters of smugglers and slavery, pirates and corruption, shaky borders and hypocrisy, overfishing and poaching, dark fleets, harmful fisheries subsidies, forced migrations, and more. The sheer volume of injustices in the ocean is staggering, and as I worked on my presentation, I realised I could spend the entire week on board just sharing these stories. But eventually I had to condense and focus, asking myself two critical questions:
- Why is there so much lawlessness in the oceans?
- How can we change this?
Why So Much Lawlessness?
To me, the answer lies in three fundamental aspects of the ocean:
- Its Otherness: We are terrestrial creatures. The ocean exists “somewhere out there,” beyond the horizon, out of sight and out of mind. Even today, it remains a “no man’s land” in many ways. Where jurisdictions exist, they are often convoluted, with overlapping stakeholders that make accountability elusive.
- Its Immensity: The ocean is unimaginably vast. Its scale defies comprehension, making enforcement of laws and regulations incredibly difficult.
- Our Lack of Knowledge: The ocean is one of the least understood places on Earth. A recent study by the Global Fishing Watch shows that 75% of the global industrial fishing go untracked publically, and it is common knowledge that the ocean floor maps are much worse than the maps of the Moon surface.
These factors create an environment ripe for injustice and lawlessness—a vast, distant, and poorly understood domain where accountability is easily avoided.
Can Things Change?
The tides are shifting, and it happens quite quickly. Satellites, the internet, and AI are shrinking the ocean, making it more accessible and activities there more transparent. For example, not long ago, having the internet on board was a luxury; I remember lively evenings in the ship’s bar where passengers shared their day’s experiences face-to-face. Now, even the most remote corners of the ocean passengers find themselves staring into their screens.
But while technology brings the ocean closer, will it make it more just? Unfortunately, I’m sceptical. Look at the state of our continents— hypocrisy, exploitation, slavery, corruption, and violence are flourishing here. Why would the ocean be any different?
The changes we see may not replace injustice but institutionalise it. Romanticised notions of pirates and outlaws will give way to organised crime and whitewashed exploitation by the corporations and the states. Bandits will be replaced by cartels; chaos will give way to structured but still oppressive systems.
The Real Solution
The ocean’s problems cannot be solved in isolation—they must be addressed on land. The root causes of injustice in the ocean realm—greed, inequality, poverty, and exploitation—are deeply embedded in our societies. Ocean conservation efforts will fall short unless we address these issues here, in our communities, with our neighbours, and by supporting those in need. Protecting the ocean begins with protecting and nurturing humanity wherever we are.
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I shared this lecture on the final day of the voyage with a packed audience. The response was overwhelming: lively reactions, lots of questions, and praise from many who said it was the best presentation of the trip.
It was a powerful reminder that people are ready to engage with complex, confronting, and uncomfortable topics. These conversations matter—not just for understanding the state of our oceans but for reflecting on the systems we perpetuate on land. The ocean’s plight is deeply connected to our actions, our values, and our societies. And perhaps, by starting conversations like these, we can begin to make a difference—both for the ocean and ourselves.
Systematic Conservation Consultancy 