Impediments to fisheries sustainability – Coordination between public and private fisheries governance systems

Abstract

The Sustainable Seafood Movement (movement) arose in reaction to government fisheries managers' inertia and failure to prevent overfishing, overcapacity and impacts on the ecosystem. This movement has successfully developed non-state market-driven governance tools to catalyse improvements in fisheries governance. Non-state market-driven governance is often discussed in the context of certification programs such as the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), but this is just one facet of a diversified, multi-pronged governance regime that has been created to improve the sustainability of fisheries; others include fisheries improvement projects, sustainable seafood sourcing policies, and traceability schemes. Movement actors use these non-state market-driven governance tools to reform fisheries governance through the supply chain.While recognition exists in the literature of the continued importance of fisheries governance reform, the complementary nature and the need for improved coordination between public governance and non-state market-driven governance efforts is insufficiently explored. Few actors in either sector understand fully the work of the other. Using the United Kingdom and the United States as case studies, this paper contrasts public governance mechanisms with non-state market-driven governance mechanisms to highlight where their efforts are complements, substitutes, rivals, or monopolies. Understanding the roles and structures of these governance regimes is necessary to identify impediments to coordination as well as possible solutions.