This book places contemporary problems of ocean use management in historical context beginning with the time of Hugo Grotius, whose seminal 1609 work The Freedom of the Seas was the basis of ocean law for the next three centuries.

Individual use problems are dealt with in detail and include overfishing, migrating fish stocks and fish wars, oil drilling, deep sea mining and marine pollution. Throughout the author notes the need to seek solutions in ocean management from a more integrated perspective. Emphasis is placed on the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea and the resulting agreements. This book therefore presents a unique breadth of view which will make it salient to policy makers, diplomats, scholars and ocean users.