Not a sequel to Ocean's Eleven

May 14, 2018 6:57 AM

Ocean's Monopoly: How Nations Use Science to Conquer the Sea—“A look into the complex world of ocean bed ownership and how nations are vying for their own piece of the puzzle.” A 48m documentary in English from Al Jazeera and Werwiewas Media Productions.

NYT from 2009: “A Peek Inside the U.N.'s Continental Shelf Commission”
Cornell International Law Journal: “Accountability and the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf: Deciding Who Owns the Ocean Floor”

posted by XMLicious (5 comments total)

An interesting thing it mentions is that Japan is building up a coral atoll, Okinotorishima, to preserve (or extend?) its maritime boundary, reminiscent of China's activities in the South China Sea. (and China objects to Japan's modification of Okinotorishima, of course)
posted by XMLicious at 7:03 AM on May 14, 2018 [1 favorite]

Also, Nature just did a good overview of the environmental issues in marine areas beyond national jurisdiction.
posted by bendybendy at 7:42 AM on May 14, 2018 [2 favorites]

Kind of related.... Bloomberg had a good article last month about how property owners are blocking others from fishing over their property that was submerged due to rising sea levels. Some of the owners are still paying taxes on their underwater real estate.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-04-25/fight-grows-over-who-owns-real-estate-drowned-by-climate-change
posted by surplus at 10:39 AM on May 14, 2018 [3 favorites]

That's a remarkable parallel to peasants being arrested for hunting in the lord's forest.
posted by XMLicious at 11:44 AM on May 14, 2018 [1 favorite]

Thank you for sharing this! Always interesting to see how science is used, when convenient, for political arguments, and abandoned when it's not convenient. Also nice to see a somewhat scrappy documentary on a big but somewhat neglected idea...
posted by tarshish bound at 5:49 PM on May 18, 2018