Chapter 36 - New actors, new possibilities, new challenges—nonstate actor participation in global fisheries governance

Abstract

There is increasing demand for global governance systems that have the capacity to solve transboundary policy problems in the world’s oceans. Today, there is also scholarly agreement that nonstate actors, such as nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), business associations, multinational corporations, private research-based organizations, and consultancies, matter for outcomes of global environmental governance. This book chapter presents and summarizes the findings of two recent studies on the participation of nonstate actors in Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs). The first study finds that nonstate actor participation is dominated by actors representing business interests and from high-income countries, with implications for the ability of different types of nonstate actors to impact RFMO policy processes. The second study finds that participation by NGOs is greater in RFMOs with larger financial resources, relatively similar member states, and with fewer nonstate experts from research organizations participating. By contrast, ecological factors related to target fish stock health are not found to drive NGO participation in RFMOs. The chapter ends by discussing these findings in relation to the global environmental governance and sustainability science literature.