It is widely accepted that life, human or otherwise, began in the ocean. Our connection with the marine environment remains strong today; it has, however, suffered a shift in values. While people have an evolutionary link with the sea, in the last two centuries we have increasingly reaped its resources for economic gain with little or no regard for its spiritual or intrinsic value. Consequently the marine environment is suffering from over-harvesting of living resources and anthropogenic pollution. Early attention to marine governance focused upon, for example, the right to sovereignty over territorial waters and the freedom of the seas, with little consideration given to the issue of any reciprocal responsibilities. These rights were relied upon to permit harvesting of marine living resources, predominantly fish. Humans are not only dependent upon the oceans for food production, but also for the other ecosystem services they perform including assimilation of waste, climate control and carbon sequestration.1 Nonetheless, it was not until international attention was drawn to broad environmental issues that global interest turned to marine habitat and biodiversity conservation. Today, at the global level, despite an abundance of international treaties, regional agreements, plans of action and guidelines, world fish production continues to increase2 and almost 25 per cent of fish stocks remain over-exploited, depleted or recovering.3