Global Adaptive Gov and Networks

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Global Adap,ve Governance and Networks
The curious case of the Pirate Fishers
Andrew Merrie
Stockholm Resilience Centre
SERSD Masters Programme
03 March 2016

2. So who am I then?
• New Zealander with a background in Poli,cal Science and Interna,onal Business
• EGG Alumni, class of 2011 (EGG is cooler than SERSD right?)
• Master’s Thesis with Per Olsson and Victor Galaz on the emergence and spread of Marine
Spa,al Planning as a tool for ecosystem management
• Now doing a Phd with Henrik Österblom, Per Olsson and Victor Galaz on Global Governance
of Marine Resources as part of the Nereus Program (Predic,ng the Future Ocean)
• PhD focusing on understanding the adap,veness of exis,ng governance ins,tu,ons, the
emergence of new forms of governance and contribu,ng to the genera,on of plausible
scenarios of future governance of marine resources.

3. Global Networks and Fisheries – What do we mean by
a Global Network?
Defined As:
“Globally spanning informa,on sharing and
collabora,on pa_erns between
organiza,ons, including governmental and/
or nongovernmental actors. Each individual
par,cipa,ng organiza,on is not necessarily
global, but the network as a whole aims to
affect global processes.”
(Galaz et al 2013, p.3)

4. Spatial Expansion of Fisheries– Genuinely Global
Spa2al Expansion of EU and non EU Fishing Fleets into the Global Ocean 1950 to today:
UBC Fisheries and WWF Netherlands

5. A Refresher: Networks and Polycentricity
(Elinor Ostrom in Galaz et al 2011)
Three Proposi,ons on Polycentricity:
• Prop 1 - Polycentricity is a ma_er of degree, ranging
from weak coordina,on to strong polycentric order.
• Prop 2 - Degrees of polycentric order are defined by
features such as communica,on dynamics, degree
of formaliza,on, and network structural pa_erns.
• Prop 3 - External and internal tensions affect the
ability of actors to maintain a certain degree of
polycentric order.

6. A Global Network Emergence Case Study
Pirate Fishing and the IMCS Network

7. Pirate fishing is an
entertainingly named but
actually terrible scourge of the
oceans.

8. What exactly is IUU?
Pirate fishing vessels are legally classified as Illegal, Unreported, and
Unregulated (IUU) vessels:
• Illegal – vessels operate in viola,on of regional laws, i.e., fishing
out of season, catching wrong species, using wrong gear, catching
more than their quota, not having the proper license.
• Unreported – either not repor,ng or misrepor,ng size of catch.
• Unregulated – vessels that have no na,onal registra,on, flying
wrong flag, or fish where there are no conserva,on measures in
place.

9. Global IUU – By the numbers
Not a Trivial Problem – (Agnew 2009)
Photo: Ma_,as Klum

10. IUU; Sophis,cated, Adap,ve and Innova,ve –
Amateurs need not apply

11. Adap,ve Governance for figh,ng illegal fishing
in the Southern Oceans
Österblom & Folke, Ecology and Society, 2013
Photo: Australian Customs Service
• A diverse network of actors and ins,tu,ons have managed to
drama,cally reduce illegal fishing in the Southern Ocean
• Informal and formal networks have been instrumental to the
successful outcomes
• The network included na,onal governments, civil society and the
fishing industry all working in collabora,on over many years

12. A Global Framework for Ac,on on IUU
Networked in unexpected ways through individuals and organisa,ons
(shadow networks opera,ng in the spaces between established governance ins,tu,ons)
• UN conven,on on the law of the seas (UNCLOS) 1974
• UN Fish Stocks Agreement (part of UNCLOS) 2001
• Interna,onal Plan of Ac,on to combat IUU (IPOA-IUU), 2001
• IMCS Network (2002)
• High Seas task force (2003-2006)
• Port State Measures Agreement (2010)
• Global Ocean Commission (2013)
• Chatham house IUU Ini,a,ve
• Stop Illegal Fising – UK Govt Ini,a,ve

13. From regional ini,a,ve to global network– In
the Beginning there was talk
• CCAMLR and beyond…
• Hey, I know you from that Toothfish thing!
• A core informal group: USA, Australia, Chile,
Peru, Canada, Norway…
• Could we envision an ‘interpol’ for fisheries?
• Discussions in FAO commi_ee on Fisheries
• Birth of the IMCS Network
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2
4
3
Individual Actors with Shared
Interests chat informally
Emergence of an informal
communica,ons & knowledge
sharing network
Incremental moves towards
the establishment of a a
formal network structure
A formalised organisa,onal
structure is put in place –
IMCS is ins,tu,onalised

14. The History of the Interna,onal Monitoring,
Control and Surveillance Network (IMCS)
• Scoping mee,ng in San,ago, Chile 1999
• Responsible fishing declara,on draqed
• Founding mee,ng Key Largo, USA, 2000
• Establishment of terms of reference
• Establishment of Website imcsnet.org
• Secretariat established in 2008 focused on improving fisheries MCS through:
• Enhanced coopera,on
• Coordina,on
• Informa,on collec,on & exchange
• Capacity Building (GFETW)
• Right Now: 49 member countries, 6 Observers, NGO access in development

15. Big Diverse Data – Essen,al for dealing
effec,vely with savvy pirate fishers
MCS Informa,on &Intl Databases
Equasis (Merchant Shipping Database)
RFMO FV Lists
Na,onal Databases
Port State Inspec,ons
Prosecu,on Databases
Black, White & Gray Lists
Regional and sub-regional FV databases
Authorized and Unauthorized FV lists
Lloyds Shipping Register

16. Bus,ng Fish Pirates across scales

17. Novel Technology Plasorms– Enablers of
Adap,ve Governance?

18. Rapid technology development
unintended consequences

19. The poten,al of informal governance networks to
generate impact
Interpol and IUU

20. Some more thinking on the poten,al of global
networks
• Global networks improve capacity to coordinate through mobiliza,on of diverse capaci,es
• Emerge in specific contexts oqen to solve specific challenges
• Different degrees of social organiza,on (changeable over ,me and not necessarily a linear
progression)
• Each network faces different sets of challenges i.e. Legi,macy, funding etc.
• But...It is clear that global networks are emerging to address global challenges (although
not all networks are benign of course, think about the IUU case)

21. A conclusion of sorts– Bringing it together
Core Argument: If formal interna,onal ins,tu,ons are too fragmented or slow to address rapid
and non-linear dynamics, global networks may contribute to increasing the adap,ve capacity
of global governance of “,pping points”
Networks offer an elegant descriptor for some of the emerging governance dynamics that are
occurring at the global scale.
• Four features of global networks (evident from IUU IMCS case study) :
• Informa,on processing and early warnings
• Mul,-level and mul,-network responses
• Ability to develop and maintain diverse response capacity
• Balancing legi,macy and efficiency goals
Can be difficult to analyze and study as they are constantly shiqing and are quite ephemeral,
although can be a very rewarding area of study.

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Thank you for listening!
Andrew Merrie
PhD Candidate in Sustainability Science
Stockholm Resilience Centre

23. Ques,ons for Discussion – Select and Rotate
1. Consider the emergence of global scale environmental crime, how might this alter our
ability to govern ecosystems? Is it right to characterize this as ‘organized crime’ and why
might that be problema,c?
2. Do non-state actors and informal networks really ma_er, are we oversta,ng the case?
Will na,on-states remain paramount for determining the future of ecosystems?
3. For what environmental governance challenges might networks be ill suited? What are
the disadvantages of relying on emergence of networks to address challenges at the
global scale?
4. In fisheries, or in another area of ‘governance of ecosystems’ with which you are familiar,
how might technology impact governance challenges that seem intractable? What
unintended consequences may arise due to the use of a new technology?