Get to Know the Law of the Sea

The purpose of this campaign is improve public engagement with the world's oceans and seas and with the system by which mankind both uses and protects the vast oceanic spaces. For more than a decade, the Ocean Law News newsletter has served the policy community in Washington DC, but this audience is far too small. Everyone, even in the center of the American heartland far from the coast, is affected by how we use, and how we protect, our oceanic heritage, so everybody needs the opportunity to learn more about how the oceans are used and protected.

We Need Your Engagement and Support

Ocean Law News needs your support quickly because we are in a period of change from an audience of specialists to a broad base with interests in the big picture of how the world uses and protects the ocean. This change needs to be made as quickly as possible, and your early contributions are critical to our success in a smooth and quick transition.

The goal of this campaign is to raise the funds to redesign and refocus Ocean Law News to reach a broad audience across the United States and around the world. Public participation in the campaign, at any level of donation, will demonstrate to other potential supporters that there is an audience for Ocean Law News that will benefit from their support.

I am asking for your donation of any amount, from $10 to $100 or more, to demonstrate your interest and support. Your funds will help ensure that Ocean Law News is published on a weekly schedule, with greater depth of coverage of the reasons behind ocean conflicts and efforts to resolve disputes. It is also your opportunity to see behind the curtains that shroud the decisions of diplomats, naval officers, industry CEOs and environmentalists. It will also help explain what is going on in ocean hotspots such as the South China Sea, the Arctic, minerals of the deep ocean floor and fish on the high seas.

Your Benefits from Supporting Ocean Law News

With your donation, you will be added to the distribution of Ocean Law News. More than that,  you will have the opportunity to suggest topics or ask for greater depth of coverage of issues that you think are important. You will also be encouraged to be part of the ocean law team by sharing information with your friends and by providing your perspective to us so it can help guide coverage, and questions, addressed by Ocean Law News in the future. 

Donors of $50 or more will receive the 2017 volume of "Seabed Dispatches" prepared during the summer session of the International Seabed Authority - a unique publication providing daily insights from the site of the institution responsible for sustainable development of resources of the deep ocean floor.

A Bit of Personal Background

I was raised in a navy family on the lore of the sea, ships and sailors. After serving at sea myself I returned to school where I was introduced to the Law of the Sea and to the negotiation of a new agreement to codify the rules of the maritime road and find a balance between economic development and environmental protection for all users of the oceans.

My introduction to the Law of the Sea was like coming home to an extended family where every member shared an interest in the seas and, like a family, every member had his or her own take on the issues. As it has been for me, Ocean Law News will give you the opportunity to be a part of this extended family of sailors and scientists, developers and diplomats, and fishermen and conservationists.

In the course of my career I have been an ocean engineer and mineral economist, a policy analyst and diplomat for the US government, a project manager and the director of the Rule of Law Committee for the Oceans. But while my education and career have been on and near the oceans, my roots are in the Ozark mountains and the farmland of northern Indiana. I know that people far from the coasts are interested in the fate of the seas, and I want Ocean Law News to help bring news of the seas and their uses to all of the country.

The Law of the Sea is in constant evolution as new technologies are introduced and new scientific discoveries highlight both the benefits and the concerns of development. But as important, and as exciting, as this is, not enough people have the opportunity to learn about how technology, economics, environment and diplomacy come together to affect the lives of literally billions of people.

Why this is Important

Every person, from the coast to the plains and mountains of the heartland, depends upon the sea, whether for access to markets, food, new medicines, critical materials and energy and more. We need citizen of all regions and interests to participate in discussions of the law and politics of the oceans. Ocean Law News wants to grow to fill this role, and you can help.

Your donation will help help build our community of people interested in the sea, in its use in global trade, a source of food and materials, and an area of beauty, and it will make you part of a community who share those interests.
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The Council of the International Seabed Authority meets in Kingston, Jamaica  for two weeks each year. You cn learn about its work from Ocean Law News.