Collapse of cooperation? The North-Atlantic mackerel dispute and lessons for international cooperation on transboundary fish stocks

Abstract

A changing climate will challenge the effectiveness and functioning of existing international resource management structures or international regimes. This is already evident in regimes that manage transboundary fish stocks, where rapid changes in the abundance and distribution of fishery resources threaten international cooperation. This article examines the breakdown in resource cooperation for the northeast Atlantic mackerel fishery where, for over a decade, Coastal States have failed to reach an agreement on the management of the stock after a climate-induced shift in the stock's distribution. Why did the management regime fail? And what are lessons learnt for such regimes more generally? This article sheds light on the interplay between a relatively weak international regime, domestic interests related to the importance of the national fishing industry and a breakdown in the common principlesfisheries sciencethat international cooperation is based on. The limited flexibility in the negotiating position of the various statesand thus, the regime at largecan be ascribed to a combination of strong domestic industry influence on negotiating positions, and a disagreement over the appropriate methods to measure stock biomass in tandem with unclear allocation principles. Strengthening existing mechanisms to cooperatively manage shared stocks between Coastal States will be important to avoid such disputes in the future. However, states are weary of relinquishing decision-making powers. Therefore, starting with an agreement on the fundamentals, namely the science that underpins diverging claims, could be a first step towards a long-term solution for the northeast Atlantic mackerel.

Future Socio-political Scenarios for Aquatic Resources in Europe: An Operationalized Framework for Marine Fisheries Projections

“…In addition, some fish stocks that were primarily located in EU waters are expected to continue migrating out of these boundaries. Some stocks have already been reported Northward in the waters of countries outside of the EU such as Iceland and Norway, leading to disputes regarding access rights (Astthorsson et al, 2012;ICES, 2017b;Boyd et al, 2020;Østhagen et al, 2020).…”

Attributes of climate resilience in fisheries: From theory to practice

“…For instance, in Mexico, fishing cooperatives' ability to access ecological resources and pursue diversified livelihoods depended, in part, on having a greater suite of rights conferred through fishing permits (Finkbeiner, 2015). The North Atlantic mackerel example (Box 1) demonstrates how the lack of adaptive mechanisms in the governance dimension led to the breakdown of international cooperation despite a system with otherwise strong attributes across dimensions-indeed, one of the most established, well-resourced, science-based management systems in the world (Østhagen et al, 2020;Spijkers & Boonstra, 2017).…”

Behaviour, uncertainty, and the role of information in resource management

“…The management is even further complicated by the uncertainties pertaining fisheries management such as the location and abundance of fish stocks [Fallon et al, 2015, Johnson et al, 2014, how stocks react to climate change [Lindkvist et al, 2017, Vaidyanathan, 2017, and the behaviour of the different actors. How do institutions handle uncertainties and which reforms are needed to make fisheries management viable [Symes and Hoefnagel, 2010, Symes, 2007, Dankel et al, 2012, Soomai, 2017, how do countries deal with these new situations caused by climate change dynamics [Østhagen et al, 2020, Spijkers and Boonstra, 2017, Mendenhall et al, 2020, and how are individuals handling uncertainties when they are harvesting fish [Mina et al, 2016, Cason and Gangadharan, 2015, Noussair et al, 2015. Since fish are a common pool resource (non-excludable and rival) a lot of the management relies on cooperation, especially in informal management settings [Ostrom, 2010, Ratner andAllison, 2012].…”

“…One example is that with rising water temperatures the stocks start to migrate out of their traditional habitats towards the poles [Pinsky et al, 2018, Pinsky and Fogarty, 2012, Reiss et al, 2009, Cheung et al, 2009, Perry et al, 2005. These distribution shifts can challenge international cooperation on the management of fisheries and can even lead to conflicts between countries [Spijkers and Boonstra, 2017, Pinsky et al, 2018, Østhagen et al, 2020. In this paper we focus on cooperation within the institutional setting of the European Union (EU) and the challenges distribution shifts pose for the institution itself.…”

“…The study of natural resource management has a long tradition, analysing the different management challenges across all scales, from individuals to households, villages, countries, to supranational institutions [Fulton et al, 2011, Østhagen et al, 2020, Spijkers and Boonstra, 2017, Mendenhall et al, 2020, Mina et al, 2016, Cason and Gangadharan, 2015, Noussair et al, 2015, Ratner and Allison, 2012, Symes and Hoefnagel, 2010, Symes, 2007, Dankel et al, 2012, Soomai, 2017. Natural resources are part of a social-ecological system [Ostrom, 2010, Berardo and Lubell, 2016, Carlisle and Gruby, 2019.…”