OCEAN GRABBING – NEW LAWS OF THE SEA

Around the globe, the rights of use and ownership of marine and coastal zones are being reallocated. In line with global market rules and largely kept hidden from the public, changing national and international legislation is leading to a development that is overruling the traditional rights of use of local commmunities. Fishermen and coastal inhabitants are being deprived of their livelihoods. The beneficiaries of this gradual process of privatisation and commercialisation are international corporations, organisations and states. Known as "ocean grabbing", the consequences of this development are in evidence on all kinds of levels: from international trade with fishing licences, the privatisation of entire coastal regions for industrial and tourism projects, to the environment protection measures of the United Nations' Blue Carbon Initiative. Western democracies, the EU, US and international organisations such as the World Trade Organisation and World Bank are the key promoters and beneficiaries of this reallocation. This investigative documentary examines the consequences of these new global structures based on four examples in India, Sri Lanka, Costa Rica and Kenya.