Transnational corporations as 'keystone actors' in marine ecosystems.

Henrik Österblom,Andrew Merrie,Jean-Baptiste Jouffray,Johan Rockström,Max Troell,Beatrice Crona,Carl Folke,Athanassios C Tsikliras

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0127533

Henrik Österblom, Andrew Merrie + Show 6 more

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0127533

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Abstract

Keystone species have a disproportionate influence on the structure and function of ecosystems. Here we analyze whether a keystone-like pattern can be observed in the relationship between transnational corporations and marine ecosystems globally. We show how thirteen corporations control 11-16% of the global marine catch (9-13 million tons) and 19-40% of the largest and most valuable stocks, including species that play important roles in their respective ecosystem. They dominate all segments of seafood production, operate through an extensive global network of subsidiaries and are profoundly involved in fisheries and aquaculture decision-making. Based on our findings, we define these companies as keystone actors of the Anthropocene. The phenomenon of keystone actors represents an increasingly important feature of the human-dominated world. Sustainable leadership by keystone actors could result in cascading effects throughout the entire seafood industry and enable a critical transition towards improved management of marine living resources and ecosystems.

Highlights

Globalization is increasing the economic power of transnational corporations in relation to national governments, but the effects of this gradual shift are largely unknown [1]
In addition we evaluated the role of the investigated companies in establishing, or the extent they were members in three international organizations identified as important industry initiatives for aquaculture management and certification [46]—namely, the Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA), the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) and the Global Salmon Initiative (GSI)
They a) dominate global seafood volumes and revenues, b) are globally connected through subsidiaries and other networks of operations, c) dominate globally relevant segments of seafood production, and d) are represented in global fisheries and aquaculture policy and management. These aspects provide them with a disproportionate role in the global seafood production industry and a disproportionate ability to influence the dynamics of marine ecosystems worldwide

Summary

Introduction

Globalization is increasing the economic power of transnational corporations in relation to national governments, but the effects of this gradual shift are largely unknown [1]. The world’s largest transnational corporations are highly connected and a small number of companies control a major part of global financial flows. This core of highly connected companies has been described as a “super-entity” of the global economy [2]. These companies may be analogous to keystone species in ecological communities. Keystone species have a profound and disproportionate effect on communities and ecosystems and determine their structure and function to a much larger degree than what would be expected from their abundance [3, 4]. The fact that individual actors can have a disproportionate impact on the environment is well known [5,6,7] and has recently been investigated in relation to greenhouse gas emissions [8]

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