The Outlaw Ocean

A review of Ian Urbina’s groundbreaking work.

“Human rights, labor, and environmental crimes occur often and with impunity because the oceans are vast. What laws exist are difficult to enforce.” Ian Urbina

This book changed how I viewed the world. It changed how I viewed slavery, and it changed how I bought food from a grocery store.

To write The Outlaw Ocean, Ian Urbina, an investigative journalist, spent 5 dangerous years on and off fishing boats. He sailed every Ocean in the globe and experienced all kinds of things I can’t even imagine. Hunger. Danger. What its like to fall asleep and have rats crawl over you.

But Urbina’s experiences were pale in comparison to the fishing workers who live and breathe every day in these conditions. The distant water fishing fleet employs around 50 million people. 50 million people that are forced to work 18-20 hours a day, often without pay. Many of them remain on the boats for years and are not allowed to go ashore. They are forced to work in dangerous and unsanitary conditions. They are abused and subjects of violence to prevent mutiny.

And they are invisible.

The high seas are international waters. They belong to everyone and to no one. No one country has jurisdiction, so how do you police and enforce laws in vast watery spaces that you don’t have any claim to? How do you protect workers stranded on boats in these places where there are no laws? This factor along with the fact that most of the workers employed on fishing boats are undocumented migrant workers are why so many crimes committed at sea go unpunished.

Not only is the fishing industry ruining the lives of 50 million human beings, it is also wreaking havoc on our oceans. We tend to think oil spills are the worst ocean pollution, but they aren’t. Every three years, ships intentionally dump more oil and sludge into the oceans than the Exxon Valdez and BP spills combined.

Most of the world’s fishing grounds are depleted. Some research predicts that by 2050, the sea will contain more plastic than fish. Bottom trawling and bycatch are two of the worst fishing practices. Bottom trawling is where a giant weighted net is dragged along the ocean floor clearing everything in its path, including coral, and leaving nothing but empty sand in its wake. Bycatch is where one species is targeted but other species are captured along with it. These non-target species are returned to the water dead, or injured.

We are big fans of tuna sandwiches in my family, and with a single income I buy the cheapest food I can find to feed us. But canned tuna is one of the worst kinds of fish you can buy, and when I read the label, printed on it quite plainly were the words: Product of Thailand.

“Arguably, the most important factor, though, is that the global public is woefully unaware of what happens offshore. Reporting from and about this realm is rare. As a result, landlubbers have little idea of how reliant they are on the sea or the more than 50 million people who work out there.” Urbina

So what can we do? As one landlubber to another, you can opt to buy the more expensive tuna and you can check the labels carefully. Green Peace keeps a list of the safest canned tuna to buy. You can check it out here. For all other fish the Environmental Defense Fund has a website with information on what fish are safe and environmentally friendly to eat. Click here for their food guide.

I would also encourage you to get your hands on Urbina’s book and read it. Or you can watch this interview he did for Second Opinion. Or you can read an article he wrote for the LA Times here.

Many non-profits are working to solve these problems. The Outlaw Ocean Project is one you can donate to here. You can donate to Green Peace, which works to guard the seas against whale hunting. They are also trying to get an Oceans Treaty in place to protect the oceans, which cover two thirds of our planet. You can check their website out here. 4Ocean is another non-profit started by two surfers after a trip to Bali to try and clean up all the garbage in the water. They pay captains and crews to catch plastic instead of fish. Click here to see their website.

If you want a simpler solution, eat less fish. Check the labels. Make sure what you’re buying and taking home has not been brought to you on the back of a slave. And read Ian’s book. Read Outlaw Ocean. Its a book every landlubber should read.