Reimagining fishing in the Anthropocene through a rights of nature lens

How human society relates to and values the Ocean, generally, has direct implications for conservation. Overarching norms such as ‘Mare Liberum’ (Freedom of the Seas) and prevalent policy tools such as Maximum Sustainable Yield, have largely imagined ‘fisheries’ and/or nonhuman populations to be resources and property for human benefit and utility, an imperative limiting the potential of management to maintain healthy and thriving populations and prevent overfishing. Rights of Nature is emerging as an approach to reorient law around an ecocentric ethic where humankind is an element of Nature, and where Nature has inherent rights and intrinsic value. We explore how Rights of Nature might progressively shift traditional norms and values and provide a rethink of how law constructs and regulates human activity in the Ocean in the context of fishing. Our analysis suggests that Rights of Nature, or Ocean Rights, ensures the individuality, representation, and intrinsic value of marine wildlife and therefore provides an obligation to take effective measures to address unsustainable practices and to restore degraded ecosystems.