Marine governance, adaptation, and legitimacy

From time to time, changes in behaviour, or in understanding, in the marineenvironment itself, or in society’s values, demand a change or a development inthe law. At times, this development fits with the existing principles underpinningthe law, but at other times it demands revision of those core principles. Thisnecessity gives rise to a number of questions. Does such change always takeplace? Does, for example, the evolution of scientific understanding automaticallylead to evolution in the law? If it does not, then how and why do changes comeabout in some regimes and not others? What do the answers to these questionstell us about international law or about the concept of legitimacy in internationallaw and whether or not it is maintained during periods of change within regimes?These are the questions examined in this article with the aid of three issue areas:the adoption and maintenance of the whaling moratorium, dumping at sea, andfishing. In relation to fishing, a particular case study is also highlighted—theintroduction of a discards ban within the European Union (EU)