The Blue Commons

The blue commons are our oceans: they feed us all, link our continents, provide a natural economy on coasts around the world and are a crucial part of our ecosystem. But in recent years the oceans have been plundered. They are currently undergoing an existential crisis that demands a global response. Why have our oceans been so overlooked in the conversation about the climate catastrophe?

This book exposes the corrosion of the blue commons through six trends - encroachment or destruction, enclosure, social forgetting, commodification, privatisation and colonisation. The commoners - mainly small-scale fisheries and coastal communities - have fought back, with some inspiring and positive results. It provides a road-map for reviving the concept of the blue commons, as belonging to us all, protected from plunder by businesses and nations seeking profit at the expense of everyone.