Who Rules the Waves?: Piracy, Overfishing and Mining the Ocean

From piracy in the Indian Ocean, to disputes over undersea oil and gas, to chronic overfishing, our oceans have rarely been subjected to such varied and environmentally damaging threats. Denise Russell offers a rare insight into these issues and how they could be resolved.

International law states that a coastal country has territorial rights for twelve miles into the sea beyond its coastline, and economic rights for 200 miles. However, in practice many countries have virtually no control over their own waters, and there is no international agency powerful enough to settle disputes.

Russell provides a thorough examination of the politics of the sea, showing that without a radical change in ocean governance, we face an uncertain future, where accelerating climate change and overuse of the sea's resources is likely to have catastrophic effects.