The regulation on ship recycling at international and European Union (EU) level has transitioned from the realm of transboundary movement of wastes to a specialized regime, i.e., the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships (2009) (Hong Kong Convention). Although this convention is not in force yet, the principal features of it have been incorporated in EU Regulation 1257/2013 on ship recycling. This paper examines the rationale behind developing a ship recycling regime, its disassociation from wastes, and the departure from the main principles of transboundary movement of wastes, such as the proximity principle, reduction of transboundary movement of wastes, and the prior informed consent procedure. While acknowledging some of the positive features of the emerging ship recycling, it is submitted that the Hong Kong Convention and EU Regulation 1257/2013 on ship recycling represent a step back in the regulation of ship recycling.

The EU is a pre-eminent player in sustainable development, adopting more than 200 pieces of legislation that have direct repercussions for marine environmental policy and management. Over five decades, measures have aimed to protect the marine environment by tackling the impact of human activities, but maritime affairs have been dealt with by separate sectoral policies without fully integrating all relevant sectors. Such compartmentalisation has resulted in a patchwork of EU legislation and resultant national legislation leading to a piecemeal approach to marine protection. These are superimposed on international obligations emanating from UN and other bodies and are presented here as complex ‘horrendograms’ showing the complexity across vertical governance. These horrendograms have surprised marine experts despite them acknowledging the many uses and users of the marine environment. Encouragingly since 2000, the evolution in EU policy has progressed to more holistic directives and here we give an overview of this change.

The Indian Ocean hosts a wide range of living resources including fish stocks. Marine resources contribute significantly to economies and livelihoods, and seafood is a major source of protein in Indian Ocean nations. Fisheries resources in the Indian Ocean have started showing symptoms of depletion. Several regional fisheries management organisations (RFMOs) have been established for sustainable management of the fisheries resources in the Indian Ocean region. These RFMOs were created at different times with various particular mandates, and in some cases prior to the emergence of contemporary scientific concepts and legal approaches to marine environmental governance. In this article, eight such RFMOs are studied to determine the implementation of ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) and the precautionary approach (PA), which are now widely accepted norms of fisheries management and international law. This article argues that there is a mismatch between the legal and governance frameworks, and the fisheries science and management.

The institutional frameworks addressing issues in connection with the marine commons agreed by States are set out in the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which is the basis of the European Union’s common fisheries policy. Despite a substantial body of environmental legislation, provisions concerning the protection of ecosystems and bioversity have not been incorporated into any international measure or EU to control fishing, leading to ecosystem degradation. Regulation should impose the responsibility for rectifying damage to fish stocks and ecosystems as a result of fishing activity on the fishing industry.