Olive Heffernan’s The High Seas: Greed, Power and the Battle for the Unclaimed Ocean explores humanity’s extractive relationship with the parts of the ocean beyond national ownership and the governance challenges they present. The book offers valuable insights and explores the limitations of the High Seas Treaty, though it lacks an exploration of detailed, sustainable solutions in its case studies, according to Rachel O’Connor.

The High Seas: Greed, Power and the Battle for the Unclaimed Ocean. Olive Heffernan. Profile Books. 2024. 

The High Seas: Greed, Power and the Battle for the Unclaimed Ocean by Olive Heffernan analyses multifaceted issues affecting the high seas. Heffernan’s book follows similar calls to action regarding the plight of the ocean, notably Helen Czerski’s The Blue Machine: How the Ocean Works (2023) which examines the physical processes underlying oceans and David Attenborough’s and Jonnie Hughes’ A Life on Our Planet: My Witness Statement and a Vision for the Future. Heffernan contributes to this wider literature, connecting her personal experiences with environmental championing. She separates her work from others’ by focusing on the high seas specifically, as opposed to coastal environments, and by highlighting global perspectives of researchers and activists. She brings to bear her experience as a journalist who has interviewed and met with global leaders, informing her the issues discussed in the book’s case studies.

Governing the ocean beyond borders

The “high seas” as a term has various definitions, depending on the field of study. Heffernan uses their legal definition, which defines it as the “part of the ocean beyond national ownership, usually starting 200 nautical miles from shore”. The book examines the extractive nature of humanity’s interaction with these marine “no man’s lands”, ranging from individuals employing artificial intelligence and fisheries knowledge to investigate pirate fishing practices, to pharmaceutical companies researching marine biological resources from the Global South and patenting it in the Global North. Heffernan understands humanity’s “out of sight, out of mind” relationship with the oceans as being a key exemplar of the continuous, pervasive nature of extractive industries in general. 

Intended for general audiences, Heffernan structures the book into three parts. The first chapter provides an understanding of what the high seas are and how history and knowledge of the seas around them has defined humanity’s relationship with the oceans. Here, she also explains the book’s purpose, which is to analyse whether sustainable practices are possible in the future. The next ten chapters are a series of case studies, with subjects from “biopiracy” (taking and the stealing of indigenous knowledge) and using the ocean as a junkyard for satellites, to taking icebergs to provide water to regions in drought. The issues this section delves into are fascinating: the development of twilight fisheries (wherein species lower down in food webs are harvested to feed farmed species like salmon), human interventions with the environment that aim to increase ocean capacity for carbon sequestration, and the search for illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing operations. The last chapter presents a concluding analysis of the preceding case studies and looks to the future for the high seas, discussing the author’s past struggles regarding hope towards protected oceans and asking whether change is possible. 

How the Global South is exploited

Heffernan anchors many of the complex issues around human rights and equity struggles, from the use of the Global South for their marine resources to continue to enrich the Global North through patents in pharmaceuticals, genetics, and more. She draws attention to practices including “bioprospecting” and biopiracy, part of the search for new ways to commodify resources from the “species-rich, cash-poor parts of the world” for the Global North, and to distant-water fishing on the boundaries of exclusive economic zones in Peru and other smaller states and, sometimes, venturing within their coastal waters. Heffernan illuminates how issues in the high seas connect to struggles for justice in the international sphere. This is exemplified well with her case study of biopiracy, which illuminates how biodiverse, lower GDP states are used for their traditional knowledge to identify potential pharmaceuticals or other products of economic value, without receiving royalties for their knowledge or resources. Only in recent years have the marine resources become considered as common heritage that must be made accessible to all. Other options for protecting these resources include the Law of the Sea (still not signed and ratified by the United States ), and the Nagoya Protocol which allows nations to implement their own rules and standards.   

The limitations of the High Seas Treaty

Heffernan’s stated aim is to determine if it is possible to move away from the extractive engagement with the high seas and instead “[allow] our decisions be informed by science and using our global commons in ways that benefit the majority.” Yet, the book does not outline how this might be done in relation to the individual case studies. She does not discuss potential sustainable solutions until the last chapter, specifically supporting the High Seas Treaty, and a need for political change over individual contributions. The High Seas Treaty, also known as the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction, was signed by the United States and over one hundred states in 2023, with key goals of promoting equity, fighting climate change, and preventing loss of biodiversity among others. Heffernan’s concerns about the Treaty are well-founded, as while the treaty has many signatories, only thirteen states have ratified it, most of them small island nations. But Heffernan stops short of exploring what more could be done to increase buy-in from other nations or otherwise bring issues relating to the High Seas to the fore. This means that while being a great read for researchers and the public, the book is less useful in higher education and policymaking settings.

Despite supporting the Treaty, Heffernan does highlight several of the issues plaguing it. One major flaw is that it does not have the power to undermine existing authoritative organisations, such as the International Seabed Authority overseeing all mineral related activities. It will therefore be unable to address most of the issues outlined in the book, like managing overfishing, pirate fishing, and deep-sea mining. Another problem is that the Treaty in its current form will not scrutinise activities already underway, so that existing authorities do not need to follow stricter environmental protocols. Heffernan admits that she is not optimistic – with good reason. Her intention in writing the book is to highlight the vast scale of the obstacles to creating a sustainable relationship with the oceans; she frames the treaty as a glimmer of hope for conservationists. 

The book impresses on readers that it is not enough for individuals to carry the responsibility for environmental protection by reducing plastic consumption, recycling, eating local produce or making other sustainable choices. We need systemic change, at state and international levels, that holds corporations and states to account. Perhaps, then, the most effective thing an individual can do is vote for representatives who are committed to positive change on green issues. The book is a valuable resource for researchers and laypersons alike looking for a deeper understanding of the issues affecting the high seas and the transboundary processes that shape human interactions with them. 

Note: This review gives the views of the author and not the position of the LSE Review of Books blog, nor of the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Image: Alexey Seafarer on Shutterstock.

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