Governing Sustainable Seafood

Taking a social science approach, this book explores the governance of sustainable seafood, which is fundamental to food and nutrition security as well as being an important source of income and employment in many regions.

Due to the importance of protein and other fishery and aquaculture by-products, many wild fisheries are coming under pressure, and this increasing demand has created a strong driver to expand aquaculture. As a result, the social and environmental sustainability of these production systems have come into question. The authors of the book explore the governance of sustainable seafood, taking into account the rise of social movements through environmental non-governmental organisations, the nature and perceived limits of government regulation within and beyond the state, and the promise of market-based approaches to governance such as ecolabelling. The book focuses on how concern over sustainable seafood has been translated into different current forms of governance. It then assesses what alternative governance approaches are starting to emerge that combine movements, states and markets for sustainable seafood production and consumption, and their effects. The book concludes with a vision for the future through key principles for evaluating the collective impact of governing sustainable seafood.

This timely volume will be key reading for researchers interested in fisheries and aquaculture governance, as well as coastal and marine policies and sustainable food movements more broadly. It will also be of interest to practitioners and policymakers engaged in creating fishery policies and sustainable fishery development.