Visiting researchers

Visiting Researchers

Are you interested in visiting the Norwegian Centre for the Law of the Sea at UiT the Arctic University of Norway?

UiT Faculty of Law/UiT Norwegian Centre for the Law of the Sea hosts guest researchers who are either employed at a higher education institution or affiliated to a PhD-program at such an institution and wish to conduct research while visiting our Faculty. The Faculty does not provide paid fellowships.

Application Procedure: Use this application form as only applications submitted through the form will be considered. The applications will be evaluated based on the scientific quality of previous research, references, and our hosting capacities during your preferred period of stay.

You may find helpful information for incoming researchers on these websites: https://en.uit.no/staffmobility

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CIL-NCLOS Dialogue 2025 in Singapore

From 18–19 November, The Norwegian Centre for the Law of the Sea (NCLOS) co-organised the CIL–NCLOS Dialogue 2025 workshop, “Arctic Governance: Contemporary Trends in Shipping, Environment, and Security,” with Centre for International Law - Ocean Law & Policy (NUS).

The opening address was delivered by First Secretary and Deputy Head of Mission Valentin Musangwa at the Norwegian Embassy in Singapore, who underscored the importance of international cooperation in strengthening Arctic governance and fostering collaborative ties.

Across the programme, discussions examined the evolving legal framework for navigation along the Northern Sea Route, its use for energy transport and potential container shipping, and ongoing efforts to enhance environmental protection, including measures addressing black carbon emissions and the heavy fuel oil ban.

The workshop also explored the security and environmental implications of increasing maritime activity, such as prospective seabed mining, the deployment of autonomous maritime technologies, and emerging cyber vulnerabilities. The event concluded with a panel on the relevance of the BBNJ Agreement for Arctic governance.

NCLOS Annual Conference 2025 in Tromsø

The Norwegian Centre for the Law of the Sea (NCLOS) successfully concluded its 2025 annual conference, held from 3–5 November in Tromsø. The event brought together leading experts, academics, and policymakers to examine the evolving role of implementing agreements under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

This year’s conference, titled “The Role of Implementing Agreements,” featured five thematic panels and a high-level discussion. Participants addressed a range of topics including the 1995 UN Fish Stocks Agreement, the 1994 Agreement on the Implementation of Part XI of UNCLOS, the 2023 Agreement on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ), and broader cross-cutting issues in ocean governance.

Opening Keynote: Gabriele Goettsche-Wanli

The conference opened with a keynote address by Gabriele Goettsche-Wanli, former Director of the UN Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea. Goettsche-Wanli discussed the interconnections among the three main UNCLOS implementing agreements: the 1994 Part XI Agreement, the 1995 Fish Stocks Agreement, and the 2023 BBNJ Treaty. She emphasized the importance of coordinated implementation to prevent fragmentation within the UNCLOS framework and highlighted the need for inclusive processes that support developing states through capacity-building initiatives.

Panels on Day 1 

Three thematic panels followed the opening keynote. The first explored the UN Fish Stocks Agreement, emphasizing its ongoing relevance to sustainable fisheries and emerging challenges such as climate change. The second examined the Part XI Implementation Agreement, focusing on its influence on the governance of deep seabed mining and the global economic order. The third addressed the BBNJ Agreement, considering its potential to strengthen the overall UNCLOS framework and enhance international collaboration on marine biodiversity.

Second Day: Keynote by Ambassador Rena Lee

The second day began with a keynote speech by Ambassador Rena Lee, Singapore’s Ambassador for International Law and President of the Intergovernmental Conference on the BBNJ Agreement. Lee described the Agreement as a framework that “gives directions, not details,” emphasizing that while mechanisms are in place, further refinement will occur as implementation progresses. Noting that 75 states have ratified the BBNJ Agreement to date, she stressed the shared responsibility of Member States and non-state actors to ensure cooperation among international frameworks.

Panels on Day 2

Day two featured panels on area-based management tools and strategic environmental assessments under the BBNJ Agreement. Discussions addressed how these tools interact with existing management regimes and their potential implications for high seas governance and protection in the Arctic region. A subsequent panel examined cross-cutting issues, including lessons from previous implementing agreements, the role of science-policy interfaces, and the relationship between the BBNJ Agreement and the International Maritime Organization.

High-Level Panel and Closing

The conference concluded with a high-level panel featuring Gabriele Goettsche-Wanli, Rena Lee, Joanna Mossop, and Vito De Lucia. The speakers reflected on how implementing agreements continue to shape the development of international ocean governance and the ways in which the BBNJ Agreement could promote greater global cooperation.

Throughout the three-day event, participants highlighted both the opportunities and challenges involved in strengthening the Law of the Sea through effective implementation and collaboration.

Spring and summer newsletter!

As the days grow longer, we’re sending warm wishes from all of us at NCLOS when we are heading into winter.

The Centre has been full of energy and new projects during the sunny months. We hope you enjoy our latest newsletter were we share highlights from the spring and summer months.

In the early days of April The Estonian MFA&MoJ organised a Legal Conference on the Protection of Critical Underwater Infrastructure and Inter-State Discussions that was attended by state representatives, experts, and academics from ca. 30 countries. Dr. Alexander Lott contributed to the conference with a presentation on law-making jurisdiction over offshore infrastructure with the title “Prescriptive Jurisdiction over Underwater Infrastructure Protection”. The program continued the next day with interstate discussions in Tallinn.

While in Tallin Alexander also held a guest on maritime security law to the students of the international master's program at the Tallinn University.

On the NCLOS Research Lunch of 10th of April we had a presentation by Gor S., who is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie postdoctoral research fellow at the Law Faculty, Crime Control and Security Law Research Group. The presentation covered his postdoctoral project titled "Normative Order of the Radical Environmental Movement and the Enforcement of International Environmental Law.

Gor’s research project explores whether the radical environmental movement has evolved into a normative order of enforcement of international environmental law. It invokes some of the key propositions of the theory of legal pluralism and tests two corresponding hypotheses against the experience of seven transnational environmental organizations over a forty-year period, including Greenpeace, Sea Shepherd, and Eco Activists for Governance and Law Enforcement.

The presentation outlined the project's conceptual framework and highlighted some preliminary findings that show a significant practice of these organizations to be relevant to the enforcement of international environmental law.

Toward the end of April NCLOS organised the event “Ice, Technology and Ethics” in collaboration with Arctic Frontiers Open as part of the series “Secrets of the Ocean".

The event brought together experts to discuss legal, environmental, and ethical implications of sea ice geoengineering - an emerging technology that is being developed and experimented with to counteract effects of climate change.

A heartfelt thank you to all the speakers, Apostolos Tsiouvalas, Jenny Turton, Mario Acquarone, Malou Platou Johansen and Harald Steen for their thought-provoking contributions and to everyone who joined at Amtmandens in Tromsø for an engaging discussion.

From the 5th to the 7th of May research fellow Bastiaan Klerk presented at the IUCN’s World Environmental Law Congress in Rabat, Morocco, where he presented at the plenary panel on ‘IUCN at International Courts’. Here he shared reflections from his work as IUCN legal counsel in the lead-up to the ITLOS Advisory Opinion. Bastiaan also presented on the panel on ‘Integrating different objectives in Ocean Governance’, where he gave a presentation titled “Dynamic Area-Based Management Tools for a Changing Ocean: A Case Study”.

At the same time Dr. Alexander Lott were in Jakarta at the ‘Expert Discussion on Humanity in Naval Warfare’ event organized by the International Committee of the Red Cross, Global Initiative on international humanitarian law and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia. During this event Alexander held two presentations titled “Protection of Critical Offshore Infrastructure: The Law of Naval Warfare Perspective” and “The Law of Blockade and Interaction with the Legal Regime of Straits”.

Moving toward the middle of May Norwegian Centre for the Law of the Sea had the privilege of hosting a joint seminar, in collaboration with the Environmental Humanities Research Group at UiT The Arctic University of Norway, titled “Settler Ecologies: The Conservation Regime in Palestine-Israel” with Professor Irus Braverman.

During the seminar, Professor Braverman shared insights from her book, "Settler Ecologies", which examines settler colonialism and ecological practices in the Palestine-Israel context. Drawing on years of ethnographic fieldwork, her book discloses how nature management—national parks, nature reserves, and the reintroduction of species—is being used as a strategy of dispossession in Palestine-Israel by the State of Israel to control and claim ownership over Palestinian territory, further advancing the Zionist settler colonial project.

June was an especially busy month for the members of NCLOS. In the beginning of June Postdoctoral Research Fellow Jessica Schechinger, Professor Richard Barnes and Associate Professor Youri van Logchem participated in the UNODC expert group meeting on effective maritime law enforcement in marine protected areas (MPAs) in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) in Vienna, where they discussed the draft issue paper on this topic.

Right after this research fellows Bastiaan Klerk and Mana Tugend, took part in the One Ocean Science Congress in Nice as part of a learning expedition organized by the Institut français de Norvège. This inspiring initiative brought together researchers from a wide range of disciplines such as marine scientists, legal scholars, Indigenous knowledge holders, policymakers, and early-career researchers. Thus, creating a dynamic space for collaboration, dialogue, and the exchange of ideas on sustainable ocean governance.

During the same time Dr. Alexander Lott visited Bodø for the XXXVIII Nordic Military Legal Advisors’ Meeting organized by the Norwegian Ministry of Defence. There he delivered a presentation on “Maritime Law Enforcement in the context of Hybrid Warfare”

Also in the start of June, at this year’s Blått kompass Conference in Tromsø, Professor Vito De Lucia, addressed legal challenges emerging from a rapidly transforming Arctic. With the summer sea ice in the Arctic Ocean projected to disappear entirely by 2050, the region faces a surge in human activity, from shipping and tourism to industrial development.

Speaking at the session “What happens when the sea ice melts?”, organised by Senter for hav og Arktis and The Arctic Ocean 2050 research programme, Professor De Lucia highlighted the urgent need for robust, adaptable legal frameworks to respond to accelerating ecological change, shifting geopolitics, and new commercial pressures.

From the 9th to the 13th of June, the third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3) was held in Nice, France, aiming to advance global efforts to protect and sustainably use the ocean and its resources, in support of Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG14).

As part of UiT – The Arctic University of Norway’s side event Arctic Future Pathfinders, a panel on the 10th of June featured Associate professors Maria Madalena das Neves and Eva R. van der Marel. The discussion focused on legal and governance challenges related to the marine Arctic: Maria addressed legal frameworks for deep-sea mining, highlighting environmental risks and implications for Arctic Indigenous rights. Eva examined plastic pollution, particularly from fishing gear, environmental challenges of increased shipping and tourism in the Arctic, and discussed the potential of a global plastics treaty.

UNOC3 concluded with the political declaration “Our ocean, our future: united for urgent action,” reaffirming high-level commitments to ocean sustainability. The event also marked progress on the BBNJ Agreement, with 19 countries depositing ratifications during that week.

The second yearly Future Arctic Law and Governance (FALG) workshop was held in Rome 10th of June, at the Tor Vergata University of Rome, one of the FALG project partners.

The FALG project strives to enhance global research collaboration to offer fresh insights into the challenges and opportunities for future Arctic ocean law and governance. The project addresses the combined pressures of climate change, melting icecaps, heightened human activity and geopolitical challenges impacting the marine Arctic and its ecosystems, as well as its legal institutions and governance frameworks and processes.

This year’s theme was biodiversity, and the workshop offered contributions from project partners, as well as other invited experts, and included an intervention by Ambassador Agostino Pinna, Special Envoy for Arctic, Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ITLOS Judge Ida Caracciolo, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli.

The FALG partners who participated in the workshop were Fiammetta Borgia, Henry Jones, Timo Koivurova, Geri Hønneland, Beatriz Martinez Romera, Aldo Chircop, and Vito De Lucia and Irene Dahl from NCLOS.

Summer is usually slow, but on the 23rd of July Research fellow Sofie Elise Quist and Postdoctoral Research Fellow Jessica Schechinger organized an opportunity for colleagues to watch the ICJ deliver its Advisory Opinion (Obligations of States in respect of Climate Change (Request for Advisory Opinion)). A couple of NCLOS colleagues watched together with some snacks and our ICJ Bingo sheets.

Later in July Dr. Alexander Lott held two presentations. He participated at The International Law of the Sea Summer Academy organized by Kadir Has University in Istanbul where he held presentations on “Straits Used for International Navigation” and “Hybrid Threats and the Law of the Sea”.

Throughout most of July, from the 7th to the 27th, Associate Professor Endalew Lijalem Enyew visited the Institute of Marine and Environmental Law (MELAW), Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University, Canada, as a visiting researcher. There he participated in the MELAW–NCLOS workshop on “Ecosystem-Based Management: Best Practices, Lessons Learned, and Ways Forward”, where he presented on “The Recognition of the Rights and Roles of Indigenous Peoples in Ecosystem-Based Management of Arctic Marine Biodiversity.” 

Endalew also gave a presentation to MELAW faculty and staff on the topic of “Maritime Boundary Delimitation and Traditional Fishing Rights: Examples of State Practice in Africa and Latin America” sharing insights from my article recently published in Ocean Development & International Law (ODIL).

August went by quietly, but we were happy to have contributed in several ways to the Critical Legal Conference 2025, held in Exeter on 4-6 September, seizing in full the opportunity offered by the conference overall theme, "Surf ‘n’ Turf: Critical Laws of the Land and Sea".

NCLOS Director Vito De Lucia was one of the keynote speakers, and held a presentation titled "Tales of land and sea", which brought forth fragments of ocean discourses, imaginaries and legalities.

Senior researcher Apostolos Tsiouvalas and PhD candidate Mana Tugend co-organized with Romain Chuffart, and for the fourth year in a row, a stream on Polar legalities, called "Freeze ‘n’ Seize: Polar law, extraction and resistance". Apostolos also presented a paper titled "Cryopower Unfrozen: Revisiting the The Role of International Law in Arctic Sea Ice Geoengineering".

PhD candidate Mathilde Morel co-organized a stream called "Wet Wet Wet – Water is All Around: Rethinking Legal and Spatial Approaches to Marine Ecosystems and Biodiversity ", together with Sara Del Monico and Tom Baycock and presented some of her research at that stream, with a paper titled "Regenerative Ocean Farming: Legal Imaginaries and Low-trophic Futures".

PhD candidate Sofie Elise Quist joined the stream "Storytelling from the margins" and presented a paper titled "Reframing marine sacrifice zones as spaces of hope? Law and struggles for marine and coastal spaces in Chile", relaying some of her field work in Chile

Later in September Postdoctoral Research Fellow Jesicca Schechinger chaired Panel 1 "Judges and Scholars' Role in Reconstruction" at the European Society of International Law (ESIL) Law of the Sea Interest Group pre-conference workshop titled "Reconstructing International Law of the Sea" in Berlin on the 10th of September.

Bastiaan Klerk ‘Ocean in Motion: Addressing Gaps in MPA Governance in Areas beyond National Jurisdiction’ in Non-use Measures for Global Goods and Commons in International Law.

Apostolos Tsiouvalas and Konstantinos Deligiannis-Virvos ‘From Ambition to Reality: Envisioning a Future Greek Arctic Strategy’ in Arctic Policies of Non-Arctic States by editors Medy Dervovic, Laura Ulatowski, and Stefan Kirchner.

Alexander Lott, ‘Unconventional Legal Approaches to Protecting Underwater Infrastructure’, The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies, 2025. 

Alexander Lott, ‘Christmas Day Cable Cuts in the Baltic Sea’, 2025(190) Tidskrift i Sjöväsendet 1−10.

Endalew Lijalem Enyew, ‘Impact and Recognition of Traditional Fishing Rights in Maritime Boundary Delimitation: Overview of State Practice in Latine America and Africa’ (2025) 56(3) Ocean Development and International Law 368-389.

Endalew Lijalem Enyew and Apostolos Tsiouvalas, ‘Indigenous Peoples’ in Evan T. Bloom, Suzanne Lalonde, Jeff McGee, and Donald R. Rothwell (eds), Elgar Concise Encyclopedia of Polar Law (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2025), 256-261.

Vito De Lucia  –  Full Professor

Endalew Lijalem Enyew  –  Associate Professor

Jessica Schechinger  –  Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Bastiaan (Bas) Klerk  –  PhD Research Fellow

Vito De Lucia  –  Full Professor

Christin Skjervold  –  Assistant Faculty Director

Sofie Elise Waterman Quist  –  Doctoral Research Fellow

Irene Vanja Dahl  –  Professor

Maria Madalena Afonso Rolhas Fernandes Das Neves  –  Associate Professor

Ingrid Solstad Andreassen  –  Associate Professor

Apostolos Tsiouvalas  –  Postdoctoral Fellow

Youri van Logchem  –  Associate Professor of Law (Law of the Sea & Environmental Law)

Mathilde Morel  –  PhD Research Fellow in Law

Philipp Peter Nickels  –  PhD Research Fellow

Ekaterina Antsygina  –  Researcher

Alexander Lott  –  Research professor (1183)

Konstantinos Deligiannis Virvos  –  Doctoral Research Fellow

Lena Schøning  –  Associate Professor

Nikolaos Gkikas  –  Doctoral Research Fellow

Tore Henriksen  –  Professor

Mana Elise Hera Tugend  –  Assistant Professor

Eva R van der Marel  –  Associate Professor

Magne Frostad  –  Professor, Vice-Dean for Research

Richard Alan Barnes  –  Professor

Jan Jakub Solski  –  Associate Professor

Rights for the Arctic Ocean: A Path Towards Sustainability? / Mana Tugend

Mana Elise Hera Tugend is a PhD-candidate at the Norwegian Centre for the Law of the Sea. Her research investigates the future of Arctic Ocean conservation and the possibilities for transformative changes in the legal system that are reflective of the socio-ecological realities and challenges and the interconnectedness of ecosystems.

The Rights of Nature movement reimagines who can be a legal subject and recognizes that nature possesses inherent rights to exist, thrive, and evolve based on the understanding of the interconnectedness of all life on Earth. Against this background, the main research question is: How can the translation of the Rights of Nature to the international domain in the Arctic Ocean contribute towards answering socio-ecological threats?

Humans are a central cause of the socio-ecological crisis unfolding in the Anthropocene. The Earth system suffers the consequences of human activities as demonstrated by climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss which put human, non-human, and environmental well-being at risk. In the face of these risks and impacts, it became unavoidable to consider how to address these challenges.

The project seeks to explore whether redefining the legal status of nature and conferring rights to the natural world at the international level has the potential to catalyze a broader shift in law and society and a shift in human attitude towards nature. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that no research has been made to implement the rights of nature at the international level, and especially not in the Arctic Ocean.

Mana holds an LL.M. in Polar Law from the University of Akureyri in Iceland. During her master’s, she traveled abroad for exchange semesters both in Bodø, Norway and Helsinki, Finland. Before becoming a doctoral research fellow at NCLOS, she did an internship at the North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission (NAMMCO), where she progressed to the position of scientific and communication assistant.

In addition to her work at NAMMCO, Mana worked as an assistant researcher at NCLOS on issues connected to the ongoing negotiations for the establishment of the BBNJ agreement. As part of her assignment, she wrote a blog post titled ‘What Role for Traditional Knowledge in the Conservation of Marine Biodiversity in the Arctic High Seas?’. In September 2021, she started at NCLOS as PhD Research Fellow.

Low Trophic Aquaculture / Mathilde Morel

Can we make food for a growing global population in a more sustainable way by utilizing marine resources from lowerr trophic levels? Mathilde Morel who is a PhD research fellow at the Norwegian Centre for the Law of the Sea is writing her dissertation on the subject.

Although it may seem so based on the headline, you have not strayed into the websites of the Faculty of Biosciences, Fisheries and Economics. We have met Mathilde Morel who is a lawyer and PhD research fellow at the Norwegian Centre for the Law of the Sea, where she researches legal issues related to increased use of marine resources from lower trophic levels in the Norwegian aquaculture industry.

With her doctoral project, Mathilde wants to contribute with legal research that can make the aquaculture industry better equipped to handle climate and environmental challenges.

Together with researcher Margherita Paola Poto, she is one of two lawyers associated with the research project Novel Marine Resources for Food Security and Food Safety (SECURE).  The project, led by Edel O. Elvevoll, Professor of Industrial Food Sciences, has approximately twenty-five affiliated researchers who are trying to find out how to sustainably utilize new marine resources to feed a growing world population.

What is meant by trophic levels you may ask?

Mathilde explains that the term "trophic level" describes the level in a food chain where an organism resides. In any food chain, the lowest trophic level is occupied by the primary producers. In the ocean, these are marine algae and photosynthetic bacteria. The next level consists of those who eat the primary producers, such as small zooplankton and fish larvae, Mathilde explains.

Low-trophic resources have a large and untapped potential, and can be used for both human food, raw materials for animal feed, health products and supplements, biofuels and more. Even though Norway has a long coastal zone and large sea areas, access to marine areas will still be a key challenge in the forthcoming time.

If Norway is to increase the production volume of low-trophic marine species (for example, the farming of seaweed, kelp, sea cucumbers, sea urchins and various forms of mussels) as part of the green shift, it will have to compete for areas with both new activities such as offshore wind, but also with existing activities such as shipping, tourism, mineral extraction on the seabed and fishing. These are challenges that cannot easily be solved without a good framework for ocean management, she explains.

Another challenge is that current regulations are mainly adapted to the traditional aquaculture farming types such as salmon and trout. For example, there are no adapted solutions for multitrophic aquaculture, where different species are cultivated together. The idea is that such facilities can both reduce waste and create added value by allowing waste consumers to be used, for example for animal feed.

Research, technology, and innovation are evolving at a faster pace than regulation. The challenge is to develop a set of rules that at the same time enables both innovation and sustainable growth, but this is, as you probably understand, easier said than done. Therefore, it is important that also jurisprudence is produced in this field, she states.

Most of the greenhouse gas footprint of salmon farming comes from feed.

Mathilde is writing an article-based dissertation and is currently working on her first article, which she is writing together with Andreas Langdal, a PhD research fellow at the Norwegian College of Fishery Science and part of the SECURE project. Together, the two have looked at legal measures to reduce the climate footprint of salmon farming.

Most of the greenhouse gas footprint of salmon farming comes from feed, where in particular the use of soy protein imported from Brazil contributes to the destruction of forest areas to expand the agricultural industry.

Although those engaged in aquaculture are subject to many and detailed requirements, there are few legally binding mechanisms in place that make demands on or hold feed producers accountable, either at international or national level. This is a major challenge when it comes to reducing emissions, she points out.

- We are already in the process of a green shift. As part of this, we must change our diets and the types of feed ingredients used in food production. Low-trophic farming can contribute to the production of more sustainable food, at the same time as relieving the pressure on fish stocks that are currently overfished and may in the long term replace the use of soy as feed, Mathilde states.

- To ensure that such sustainable solutions in the aquaculture industry and society in general can have the best possible growth conditions, it is crucial to have the right management tools and regulatory processes in place, she concludes.

Bridging the Land-Sea-Interface - A Study of the Limits and Possibilities of International Law to Mitigate Ocean Acidification / Philipp Peter Nickels

Phillipp Peter Nickels is a PhD Candidate at the Norwegian Centre for the Law of the Sea (NCLOS).

His dissertation will look at the limits and possibilities of international law, including the law of the sea, to mitigate ocean acidification at the intersection of land and sea. Ocean acidification is to a great extent caused by CO2 emissions from land-based sources that enter the atmosphere to eventually be absorbed by seawater.  

Ocean acidification thus presents itself as a regulatory challenge at the intersection of land and sea and is one example among others of external impacts on the marine environment, which might call into question the problem-solving capacity of international law, as evidenced by continuing ocean acidification.

Before becoming a PhD Candidate at NCLOS, Nickels did a bachelor’s in political science and public law in Germany and an LL.M in the Law of the Sea at UiT – The Arctic University of Norway. After getting his LL.M. he worked for a year as a researcher at NCLOS on various projects.  

“The Implementation of the Ecosystem Approach in Shipping: Norwegian Practice and Prospectives” / Konstantinos Deligiannis-Virvos

Subject of the research:

Konstantinos Deligiannis-Virvos is a PhD Candidate at the Norwegian Centre for the Law of the Sea (NCLOS). His research is concerned with the implementation of the ecosystem approach in the shipping sector, and it especially looks into the practice of Norway in regard to its implications for the norwegian and arctic waters.

Since the ecosystem approach lacks a specific definition in international law, this research is more focused on the practical aspects of its implementation. It examines the existing rules governing shipping that are set by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the International Maritime Organization, which functions as the competent international organization in matters of shipping.

The research also discusses the Norwegian legal framework applicable. It focuses on the regulations stipulated in the White Paper on Norway’s Integrated Ocean Management Plan (Helhetige forvaltningsplaner for de norske havområdene). It aspires to investigate what are the implications for the application of this plan in the sector of shipping and how it can further apply the ecosystem approach in this specific sector.

Importance of the research:

The novelty of the research lies on the fact that the ecosystem approach is not usually associated with the shipping sector. The application of the ecosystem approach in the specific sector of shipping, can be a step towards integrated ocean governance, especially since it is beyond doubt that shipping has an adverse effect on marine ecosystems around the globe and especially to fragile ecosystems such as those of the Arctic Ocean. While shipping is a highly regulated sector, there is a need to link it with more integrated approaches to the protection of marine ecosystems. The presented thesis aspires to offer ideas that will help achieve this goal.

Background:

Konstantinos studied law at a Bachelor’s level in the Democritus University of Thrace. He holds two LL.M. degrees, one in Public International Law from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and one in Law of the Sea from UiT – The Arctic University of Norway. He has worked as a lawyer in Athens and is a member of the Athens Bar Association. He has also completed the BlueBook internship in the European Union Commission, in the Directorate-General responsible for EU policy on Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.

"Ecosystem approach for ocean governance" / Nikolaos Gkikas

The vulnerable and sensitive Arctic ecosystems are affected by climate change and by increasing human activities. With rapid changes and uncertainties, there is a need for urgent measures to ensure socio-ecological resilience and good ocean governance. The project therefore investigates the capacity of the existing legal framework in providing for sustainable development of the marine Arctic.

The primary objective of the project is to contribute to good governance of the marine Arctic by critically investigating the implementation of EA in Norway. The subsidiary objective is to propose a set of best practices or recommendations that could be applied to foster the implementation of EA in the Arctic region on a general level.

The project investigates the ecosystem approach (EA) to ocean governance as a key strategy for sustainable development. The project examines how ecosystem approach can be implemented within the legal framework and provide for adaptive, integrated and holistic management without undermining the rule of law and such core values as accountability, participation, legal certainty and predictability. 
 
As the implementation of ecosystem approach hinges on the choices made by individual states, the project predominantly focuses on regulations applicable to and within the Arctic waters under the Norwegian jurisdiction. As the ecosystems of the marine Arctic as well as the effects of human activities are transboundary, the Norwegian law is investigated in the context of global and regional law and policy.

Science is a critical component to EA. The project thus investigates how law and science can be integrated to provide for adaptive governance. Furthermore it examines whether and how EA is implemented into the sectors of fisheries, shipping/tourism, hydrocarbons and new activities. Possible mechanisms for implementing EA, as well as the potential of implementing EA across jurisdictions through cooperation with other states, are also assessed.

For more information about the project visit: Developing good ocean governance of the Arctic in times of unpredictable and rapid changes [DOGA] | UiT

This project is a part of the Changing Arctic research school.

"Encountering Blue Transformation: a legal ethnography of salmon farming and resistance in Norway and Chile" / Sofie Quist

Sofie Quist is a PhD fellow at the Norwegian Centre for the Law of the Sea, Aurora Centre, Faculty of Law.  Her doctoral project "Encountering Blue Transformation: a legal ethnography of salmon farming and resistance in Norway and Chile" explores and problematises the relationship between law and power in the roll out of the blue transformation focusing on one of the world’s most valuable aquaculture industries: salmon farming. 

According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), aquaculture now provides more aquatic food for human consumption than fisheries and is the world’s most rapidly growing food production industry. Alongside States and multinational corporations, international organisations themselves are playing a significant role in pushing “sustainable aquaculture intensification” to meet a growing global demand for aquatic foods. In this context, farmed salmon has emerged as a significant contributor to the expansion of global trade in aquatic products in recent decades.

The aim of this thesis is two-fold: First, it seeks to problematise the narrative of salmon farming as a catalyst for a blue transformation rooted in sustainable development by analysing how (international and national) legal frameworks that facilitates or constrain salmon farming re-arrange local coastal relationships. The aim of this exercise is to document the relationship between the legal technicalities of blue transformation and local forms of dispossession and environmental injustice. Second, turning to the communities living along the coasts where salmon farming expands, the thesis explores how coastal Indigenous Peoples and small-scale fishers/ seafood harvesters in southern Chile and northern Norway mobilize law to resist or refuse salmon farming.

Through critical legal ethnography, the thesis aims to visibilize normative conflicts within the blue transformation programme, unearth global lines of resonsibility of coastal environmental in/justice, and explore how local resistance and refusal of salmon farming may point in the direction of a more just coastal governance.

Ocean Space

Ocean spaces and ecosystems are often connected in complex and multiscale ways and resist fixed legal delineations. In spite of this, UNCLOS divides ocean space into different maritime zones, fragmenting the ocean environment and subsuming each fragment to a different legal regime. WPI sets out to analyze the current regime in light of the epistemic challenges posed to the law of the sea and ocean governance (LOSOG) by the novel ecological perspective.

WPI explores whether the current spatial architecture can respond to the challenges posed to it by ocean connectivity of currents, species and domains. A particularly important dimension is the land-sea interface, where WPI will investigate the limits and possibilities of thinking land and sea together within the current LOSOG framework, assessing to what degree the relevant legal regimes are able to address and respond to the emerging issues threatening the marine environment, such as climate change, marine plastic pollution and ocean acidification. Finally, WPI will explore alternative legal constructions of ocean space.

The research conducted in WPI will shed light on one of the main hypothesis of the Aurora Center: The legal architecture of ocean space is not suited to ensure ocean resilience and sustainability, and contribute to the main research question of the Centre: What are the limits and possibilities of the current LOSOG framework to adapt and respond to the intertwined systemic challenges? And what are the possible future trajectories for LOSOG?

Key participants: Busch, Dahl, De Lucia, Hey, Lott, Molenaar, Poto, Ranganathan, Solski.

International partners: Braverman, Trevisanut, Scott, Kotsakis

Sovereignty

The aim of WP II Sovereignty is to explore the limits and possibilities of sovereignty as this is the logic and central legal principle underpinning the law of the sea and ocean governance (LOSOG).

Sovereignty is at the core of understanding international law. In the evolution of LOSOG, there has been a debate on how to govern the seas and how to balance sovereignty and freedom of the seas. Sovereignty and sovereign rights have been the selected legal device to deal with challenges such as overexploitation of natural resources. For example, through the extension of the limits of the territorial sea and the establishment of the exclusive economic zone, which have provided the coastal states with increased competence to regulate fishing and other human activities. Yet, today sovereignty is challenged in the face of current and new challenges, in particular environmental threats such as common concern and biodiversity loss. The WP problematizes sovereignty and investigates how sovereignty could be redefined, adapted to and rethought to respond to such new global systemic challenges. This research will contribute to the main research question of the Aurora Center: What are the limits and possibilities of the current LOSOG framework to adapt and respond to the intertwined systemic challenges? And what are the possible future legal trajectories for LOSOG?

Key participants: Dahl, das Neves, De Lucia, Frostad, Johansen, Solski, Torp Helmersen.

International partners: Ringbom, Tanaka, Trevisanut, Scott. 

Ocean Commons

The WP aims to deconstruct and reconstruct the concept(s) of ocean commons, to investigate its legal character and how it may promote common interests and ocean justice.

The research is organized through three tasks:

Task 1: Interrogating ocean commons

This task will interrogate the category of ocean commons in all their nuances, including emerging or intangible ones such as the protection of the marine environment, the conservation of biodiversity and ocean knowledge, in order to prepare the terrain for tasks 2 and 3.

Task 2: Limits and possibilities of the governance of ocean commons

This task will problematize the category of ocean commons in terms of their ontology, their spatial dimension, and their legal regimes. More in details, the task will assess the status, role, limits and possibilities of key principles for the governance of ocean commons, and seek to uncover which interests are protected by the array of different instruments that apply to ocean commons. Important aspects to explore will be, inter alia, whether the principles of the freedom of the high seas and the common heritage of mankind remain relevant today, and the potential implications of the principle of common concern to transcend traditional spatial and jurisdictional views of ocean commons.

Task 3: Rethinking ocean commons

This task, on the basis of tasks 1 and 2, aims at rethinking the governance of ocean commons. It will include investigations of the impact of the BBNJ process on the legal status quo and whether the potential new agreement is able to address the complexities involved in the governance of the ocean commons. This task will also link with the fragmented functional and spatial architecture of ocean, and how that affects the question of ocean justice, the balancing 10 between common interests and the interests of the individual costal states and the definition of ocean commons. One element in this task, shared with task 3 of WP II, will be to explore the role of non-sovereign agency (indigenous peoples, nature) and alternative legalities (e.g. legal pluralism) for the governance of ocean commons and in relation to ocean justice.

Key participants: De Lucia, Henriksen, Hey, Jakobsen, Johansen, Poto, Ranganathan.

International partners: Harrison, Mossop, Scott

Future Trajectories

This WP aims to gradually integrate research done under other WPs, and reflect on, develop, and propose new perspectives to, and trajectories for, legal research and for the substantive framework of LOSOG, with the view of being able to respond to the systemic challenges. 

This is done through the following tasks:

Task 1: Regional Arctic Ocean governance: A case study

This task utilizes a regional case study to bring to bear and integrate the research carried out in the other WPs. The choice of the Arctic reflects is special vulnerabilities to environmental change, its special position with respect to geopolitical interests, and the geo-localization of the Centre.

Task 2: Future trajectories

This task will coordinate the articulation of future trajectories for sustainable oceans that will have emerged in the other WPs with the view of integrating them into a coherent set of proposals for the legal research community and for policy makers.

Participants: All project group members and partners

Brochure

Activities

Activities during the period as K.G. Jebsen Centre for the Law of the Sea