Abstract
Over the last decade, a diverse coalition of actors has come together to develop and promote sustainability initiatives ranging from seafood eco-labels, seafood guides, traceability schemes, and sourcing policies in Western seafood supply chains. Based on a literature review, we trace the development of the Sustainable Seafood Movement, which has been working to reform sustainability practices in the seafood supply chain. Focusing on the US and the UK capture fisheries, we explore the roles of key actors and analyze the dynamics within and between actor groups through a conceptual model derived from semi-structured interviews. We argue that the Sustainable Seafood Movement is different from previous social movements in that, in addition to actors advocating for government reform, it has motivated supply chain actors to participate in non-state market driven governance regime. The movement and its actors have leveraged their legitimacy and authority garnered within the supply chain to increase their legitimacy and authority in public governance processes. As the movement continues to evolve, it will need to address several emerging issues to maintain its position of legitimacy and authority in both the supply chain and public governance processes.
Highlights
The Sustainable Seafood Movement is an outgrowth of the Environmental Movement, which began coalescing in the mid-to-late 1990s, in reaction to the declining status of global fish stocks and the lack of government responses (Konefal, 2013)
We argue that the Sustainable Seafood Movement is different from previous social movements in that, in addition to actors advocating for government reform, it has motivated supply chain actors to participate in non-state market driven governance regimes
Overview of the Movement and Cultural Frame Our analysis found that there are 10 principal actor groups that compose the Sustainable Seafood Movement—environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs), foundations, certification schemes, verification experts, retailers/food service providers, chefs, the fishing industry, academics, consumers, and the media
Summary
The Sustainable Seafood Movement is an outgrowth of the Environmental Movement, which began coalescing in the mid-to-late 1990s, in reaction to the declining status of global fish stocks and the lack of government responses (Konefal, 2013). Over the last two decades a diverse coalition of non-government actors have come together to address this governance gap These actors include environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs), philanthropic foundations, certification schemes, verification experts, retailers, food service providers, restaurants, chefs, members of the fishing industry, academics, media and engaged consumers. This coalition of actors and their networks laid the basis for the Sustainable Seafood Movement (movement) which developed key objectives, including the development of non-state market driven governance tools to incentivize sustainable seafood supply chains and improve fisheries governance (Cashore, 2002; Sutton and Wimpee, 2008; Jacquet et al, 2009; Konefal, 2013)
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