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Ocean Equity

Marine affairs professor and social anthropologist Yoshitaka Ota says the ocean is not a zero-sum game. The world鈥檚 oceans can provide for all鈥攊f we use them wisely and fairly.

Yoshitaka Ota was trying to figure out what to do with the rest of his life when, on a whim, he decided to go kayaking and do some spearfishing. An eager Ph.D. student in social anthropology, Ota had traveled across the world to study the religious cults of Palau. His fieldwork there didn鈥檛 materialize, and he sought solace in the sea around this Micronesian archipelago.

There, on the waves, he did find solace, as well as, eventually, direction and purpose. He didn鈥檛 catch any fish that day, but he did decide to marry his interest in human societies to the study of marine ecosystems.

鈥淚t’s very rare to have an anthropologist working on the water,鈥� he laughs in his office at the Coastal Institute in Kingston, R.I. 鈥淏ut when I started my Ph.D., my professors told me to find the thing only I can do.鈥�

A pioneer throughout his professional life, Ota, originally from Japan, is devoted to sustaining and protecting the oceans so they can continue to provide for those who rely on them. He founded Ocean Nexus with the Nippon Foundation in 2019, curating a global network of researchers dedicated to transforming ocean governance through equity and justice advocacy and to dismantling systemic structures rooted in racism, colonialism, and gender discrimination.

One of their areas of focus is marine protected areas (MPAs). These are areas in which human activity is restricted to protect and sustain marine resources and ecosystems. Nearly 200 countries have signed on to a global agreement to designate 30% of the world鈥檚 oceans as MPAs by 2030. The agreement, in practice, will place a disproportionate conservation bur-den on the Global South, where fishing grounds have been taken in the service of conservation, he says. Ota and Ocean Nexus are working to revise this global agreement to prioritize food sovereignty and the livelihoods of coastal communities and to consider protection of local rights and access.

鈥淲ith Ocean Nexus, I am making the point by supporting fishing communities,鈥� Ota explains. 鈥淲e are looking at ocean policy and asking questions like: What are the resources available under the impacts of climate change, and will these resources be available in the future? Does it make sense for governments to support development policy in the context of climate change, and who benefits from such policy?鈥�

Another focus for Ocean Nexus teams is pollution. They are looking at who is affected and which parts of the global cycles of food production, manufacturing, and transportation have the greatest impact. For example, they created a Marine Debris Action Plan for the state of Washington and are expanding knowledge about waste colonialism鈥攖he practice of industrialized nations sending hazardous materials and waste to poorer countries under the guise of recycling.

鈥淪ome benefit while others pay the con-sequences,鈥� Ota says. 鈥淭hat’s how I connect social science and the ocean, and that will help us engage with the complexity of the ocean and the potential simplicity of the solutions.鈥�

As a teacher, Ota engages students in ocean equity topics in novel ways, says Ocean Nexus co-director and 溏心vlog免费B站 marine affairs adjunct professor Cinda Scott.

鈥淵ou don’t see ocean equity offered formally anywhere else,鈥� Scott says, adding that the connection between equity and ocean communities is usually never made in academic settings. 鈥淚t’s fascinating watching the Ph.D. and master鈥檚 students鈥攚hen it clicks, and they realize oppression in ocean settings isn’t just a one-off situation where something happened to a particular group of people, but they see that, in fact, it’s happening repeatedly all over the world.鈥�

Ota manages more than 200 global research projects. Ota鈥檚 and Scott鈥檚 students are researching topics like displacement of fishing villages in Honduras, equitable global frameworks for marine carbon dioxide removal in the Pacific Islands, climate adaptation and African feminism in Ghana, and caste and small-scale fisheries policy in Southern India.

鈥淥ur research assumes that we do not start from the same line,鈥� says Ota. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 all have the same resources, capacity, and history. We tend to think that if we provide more to others, then we will lose our share. This is not true, especially for the ocean, which has enough to serve all and is not a zero-sum game. Ocean equity corrects the power imbalances that are embedded in ocean governance, policy, and economy to return power to communities.鈥�

鈥淚 really hope, maybe in five years, this becomes much more mainstream to speak about鈥攖o pursue social justice and equity as the only way to ensure a sustainable future in the ocean. Otherwise, you won’t have a future,鈥� Ota adds. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 my job to make it.鈥�

鈥擜nnie Sherman

Photo: Ayla Fox