The players, institutions, and governance structures that shape ocean outcomes in Canada. This includes conservation organisations, Indigenous governance bodies, international frameworks, and the rules and agreements that connect them. Understanding who holds influence, and how, is part of understanding how ocean outcomes are actually produced.
The Players
The ocean economy has no single owner, no single regulator, and no single set of incentives driving it. The actors whose decisions shape it want different things, operate on different timescales, and rarely coordinate well.
The Field
Knowing who the players are in Canadian ocean conservation is useful. Knowing what kind of influence each one actually holds is more useful still. The answer is less straightforward than the org charts suggest.
The Field
Antarctica has no owner, no permanent population, and limited economic activity. It has been governed cooperatively for sixty years. That turns out to be a useful reference point for the ocean.
The Field
Nearly half the planet's surface sits beyond any country's legal control. For most of modern history, that meant limited governance. The BBNJ agreement, now in force, begins to change that.