Ocean grabbing
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Abstract
The term “ocean grabbing” has been used to describe actions, policies or initiatives that deprive small-scale fishers of resources, dispossess vulnerable populations of coastal lands, and/or undermine historical access to areas of the sea. Rights and access to marine resources and spaces are frequently reallocated through government or private sector initiatives to achieve conservation, management or development objectives with a variety of outcomes for different sectors of society. This paper provides a definition and gives examples of reallocations of marine resources or spaces that might constitute “ocean grabbing”. It offers a tentative framework for evaluating whether marine conservation, management or development is ocean grabbing and proposes an agenda for future research. For a reallocation to be considered ocean grabbing, it must: (1) occur by means of inadequate governance, and (2) be implemented using actions that undermine human security and livelihoods, or (3) produce impacts that reduce social–ecological well-being. Future research on ocean grabbing will: document case studies, drivers and consequences; conduct spatial and historical analyses; and investigate solutions. The intent is to stimulate rigorous discussion and promote systematic inquiry into the phenomenon of ocean grabbing.
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Research on land grabbing soon began to focus on conservation, biofuels and sustainable development projects, eventually extending to dams, solar energy, wind turbines and marine territories.
“This research soon began to focus on conservation, biofuels and sustainable development projects (Fairhead et al., 2012; Corson et al., 2013; Rocheleau, 2015; Núñez et al. 2022), eventually extending to dams (Franco et al., 2013; Zerrouk, 2013), solar energy (Siamanta, 2017; Stock & Birkenholtz, 2019; Avila, et al., 2022; Tornel, 2023b, this Section), wind turbines (Dunlap, 2019a, 2017; Avila, 201”
From The political ecologies of "green" extractivism(s): An introduction (2024) · cites this paper as Bennett et al. 2015
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
The political ecologies of "green" extractivism(s): An introduction
Dunlap, A., Verweijen, J., & Tornel, C. (2024) · Journal of Political Ecology · doi:10.2458/jpe.6131 · Cited by 126 · see citing works
“…, 2013; Zerrouk, 2013), solar energy (Siamanta, 2017; Stock & Birkenholtz, 2019; Avila, et al. , 2022; Tornel, 2023b, this Section), wind turbines (Dunlap, 2019a, 2017; Avila, 2017; Siamanta, 2019; Singh, 2023, this Section) and marine territories (Bennett et al. 2015; Mallin & Barbesgaard 2020).”
- Authors
- Bennett, N. J., Govan, H., & Satterfield, T.
- Affiliations
- University of British Columbia (CA)
- IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas (CH)
- Corresponding author
- Bennett, Nathan James
- Venue
- Marine Policy
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2015-07
- Volume
- 57
- Pages
- 61-68
- ISSN
- 0308-597X (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4235820952
- Cited by
- 421
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 40 · 2025: 42 · 2024: 47 · 2023: 36 · 2022: 53 · 2021: 50 · 2020: 37 · 2019: 42 · 2018: 36 · 2017: 26 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 2
- FWCI
- 69.62
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Marine Policy (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Funders
- Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law › Coastal and Marine Management
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law › International Maritime Law Issues
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Marine and Coastal Ecosystems
- Keywords
- small-scale fisheries, marine conservation, ocean governance, human security, livelihoods, marine spatial planning, resource reallocation
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