Ocean equity and anti-subordination: embracing a “protecting people for the planet” model of marine governance

Ocean justice seeks to assign responsibility to actors responsible for environmental harm. Yet regulatory efforts to restore ocean health often fail to consider the political and institutional structures that have enabled such injustices. As a result, these governance mechanisms disproportionately shift the burden of remediation to marginalized, underserved, and racialized communities. This article argues that ocean justice needs to reorient its focus to address systemic and structural inequities. It proposes applying an anti-subordination approach, coupled with intersectionality principles, to help reframe ocean justice. Leveraging legal principles from climate justice and the rights of nature as a foundation, this article proposes anti-subordination as a guiding principle for enhanced protection of Indigenous and coastal fishing communities and improved marine stewardship through ocean equity protections.