Governance of Seas and Oceans.

• Author: Balkan, Serkan
• Position: Book review

Governance of Seas and Oceans

Edited by Andre Monaco and Patrick Prouzet

London: Wiley-ISTE, 2015, 318 pages, $145, ISBN: 9781848217805.

When the words sea, ocean or maritime are considered, one must notice the 70, 80, 90 rule: "Over 70 percent of the world's surface is composed of water, over 80 percent of the world's population lives on the seaside and over 90 percent of the world's trade has been performed over shipping." As the world's population and commerce network due to globalization have gradually increased, the dynamism on and around the oceans has likewise increased accordingly, leading to critical problems like resource depletion, marine pollution, etc.

Governance of Seas and Oceans attempts to raise awareness among decision makers dealing with the future of planet, on the concept of ecosystemic approach by delineating the threat that the oceans are facing, and the steps that need to be taken with the help of sustainable environment management and elementary foundations in the long term. The study that provides the basis of the book was carried out by Andre Monaco, Research Director at the French National Research Center (CNRS), and Patrick Prouzet who has been conducting research on the ecosystemic approach at the French Ifremer Institute, on the request of the publisher Wiley-ISTE. It is the 7th book of the 'Oceanography and Marine Biology' series and consists of 8 chapters.

The first Chapter explains the historical development of international sea law and how the 'heritage of mankind' concept is achieved by restricting the increasing claims of the government on maritime. It also explicates terms like maritime zone, international water, territorial sea, contiguous zones, exclusive economic zone and high seas, etc. to be better understood in the following chapters.

Chapter two indicates how international shipping volume and the number of marine vessels have increased over the past years and how the amount of money in this sector has increased accordingly. It is emphasized that this will also increase the marine threat which will consequently affect both people and seas. Therefore, the agreements standing to protect the seas from human pressure have been discussed, along with the ones to protect people, ship owners and crews from marine threats as well.

Chapter three focuses on the protection of seas from pollutants such as garbage, waste water and chemical products disposed from ships. It provides information on eliminating the...