In response to collapsing fisheries and concerns that we raised about the unsustainability of the intensive aquaculture, a proliferation of transnational fisheries and aquaculture rule-setting arrangements have emerged aiming to regulate fisheries through standards setting, using the mechanisms of certification and labeling. As a result, the transnational fisheries governance has become complex, interlinked, or rather fragmented. Moreover, these standards setting arrangements are largely set bottom up by the non-state private actors who with their own problem-structure, implicit and explicit norms, interests, power relations, different regional coverage and capabilities rely on market trade systems and the provision of incentives to foster their objectives and position themselves in the global supply chain.
Accordingly, in the context of private rule-setting arrangements in transnational fisheries governance, the objective of the research is to explore whether taking a closer look at power relations in combination with examining different types of links among actors can help us to understand why certain actors enjoy higher degree of power in global supply chain than others. Based on the concept of fragmentation of global environmental architecture which focuses on the overall institutional settings in which distinct international and transnational institutions exist and interact, we will firstly undertake the mapping of these emerging transnational fisheries arrangements. Secondly, from the perspective of social network theory and methods we will explore different types of links among these actors as embedded in social, political and economic networks in order to reach the objective of the research. The rationale is drawn from the literature on the democratic legitimacy and accountability of such emerging arrangements.
