Global Fisheries, Local Losses: Ocean Grabbing Through Power Imbalances

Abstract

As industrial fishing fleets expand globally, competition over marine resources has intensified,often to the detriment of coastal communities. Scholars have used the concept of “ocean grabbing” to critique the appropriation of marine space and benefits by powerful actors, but existing frameworks focus narrowly on spatial and resource exclusion, overlooking more subtle forms of dispossession. This thesis rethinks ocean grabbing through a comparative analysis of three fisheries: tuna in Senegal, totoaba in Mexico, and squid in Peru. These cases reveal that ocean grabbing is not just about access, but also about who controls the benefits and bears the costs. To remain analytically useful, the framework must be expanded to account for the redistribution of benefits and burdens, the role of governance failures in enabling appropriation, and the structural inequalities that allow powerful actors to operate with impunity. Broadening the framework in this way enhances its relevance for analyzing modern fisheries conflicts and for advocating more equitable and accountable ocean governance.