Social Sciences Paper: Governing Seas in the Modern Era (Essay Sample)

Governing seas in the modern era
Human activities are destabilizing the ecosystems and optimal functioning of the world’s waters at alarming, catastrophic and irreversible rates. World waters serve as mans’ fishing, mining, transport, dumping as well as military and criminal grounds. However, the excessive exploitation of water bodies beyond tenable limits has and will continue to have deleterious effects on the environment, water eco-systems and man himself.
Currently the seas are experiencing considerable strain due to overfishing which has resulted in the mass extinctions of certain species and threatens to paralyze entire ecosystem. The rampant discharge of nocuous substances in the sea coupled with the rising levels of CO2 in the atmosphere has resulted in acidification of water bodies; a surge in ocean dead zones that are virtually inhabitable and the rapid melting of glaciers, ice caps and ices sheets that have raised the sea levels. 
Given these tragedies of the sea, the United Nation Conventions on the Laws of the Seas (UNCLOS) that was ratified in 1994 delineates the guidelines and legal frameworks with respect to the use of world waters covering fishing, seafaring, scientific research and sea bed mining. However the ‘constitution of the sea is marred with serious defects and shortcomings stemming from non-compliance.
First of all, the UNCLOS does not provide strong unequivocal protection guidelines and standards for sustainability conservation and protection of bio-diversity. Secondly, the highly sectoral and zone specific approach of ocean governance has led to the establishment of multiple institutions with overlapping and conflicting mandates thus making it difficult to enforce consistent, timely and universally applicable laws. Thirdly, UNCLOS did not establish any compliance or enforcement body to report, monitor and enforce outlined guidelines. As a result, many violations go unnoticed and unpunished. Lastly, the law fails to take into account emerging pollution issues and uses such as ocean noise and bio-prospecting.
Seemingly, the current governance system is not adequate to safeguard lasting sustainability and management of world waters. In order to effectively protect water bodies there is a need for institutional reform or design of new global ocean organization that is binding and holistic with the necessary transparency, accountability and compliance mechanism put in place. In order to ensure that nation state uphold established rules, effective monitoring, sanction and enforcement mechanism need to be introduced in the current governance regime. Accordingly, incentive programs that award sustainable innovations, research and practice could enhance commitment to ocean laws.
Given the global nature of high sea population, the problem cannot be solved by a single state or entity. Effective ocean management calls for participation and cooperation from all levels of society starting from the individual to the higher systems. UNCLOS should therefore strive to ensure the participation, education and global co-operation from different state and global actors in order to ensure that ocean management remains a salient issue in the minds of the people.
Secondly, verified science based catch limits coupled with policies that scale down fishing subsidies and make provisions for global register of fishing vessels can avert incidences of unlawful, unrecorded and unchecked harmful fishing activities. Additionally, fishing restrictions and conservation of protected marine sanctuaries has been found to have positive outcome in the recovery of coral reefs and endangered species.
Global governance of the world’s water is currently murky due to the political, systemic and complex nature of implementing global ocean laws. However, possibilities abound to improve the coordination and coherence of policy through participation, global cooperation, enforcement mechanisms, protection of marine reserves, elimination of harmful subsidies and implementation scientifically verified catch limits and quotas.


Bibliography

Global Ocean Commision. "Governing the High Seas." Global Ocean Commission. Last modified 2015. /the-global-ocean/the-global-governance-gap/.

MacNeil, M. A., Nicholas A. Graham, Joshua E. Cinner, Shaun K. Wilson, Ivor D. Williams, Joseph Maina, Steven Newman, et al. "Recovery potential of the world's coral reef fishes." Nature 520, no. 7547 (2015): 341-344. doi:10.1038/nature14358.

The Economist. "A se of t...