The myth of mermaids and stewardship of the seas

Abstract

Mermaids have become increasingly present in popular culture. At the same time as this mermaid renaissance, states have been negotiating a new international legally binding instrument on the sustainable use and conservation of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction. Faced with increased pressures on ocean ecosystems—fisheries depletion, ocean acidification and plastics pollution—urgent action is required to remedy gaps in the current regime. However, although the problems with this regime are well rehearsed—it is fragmented and based a fictionalised account of ocean space that does not accurately reflect the ecological complexities of the seas and there appears to be little appetite for the root and branch changes necessary to remedy these problems. In appealing to the transnational mythology of mermaids, I seek to reinvigorate calls for a more ecologically sensitive narrative of the seas that will better protect marine biodiversity both within and beyond areas of national jurisdiction.