Examining the effect of economic development, region, and time period on the fisheries footprints of nations (1961–2010)

Abstract

Anthropogenic activities are impacting marine systems, and the future sustainability of many global fisheries are in serious question. Our analysis draws on prior research in environmental sociology and food systems to better understand the association between economic development and the ecological footprint of fisheries. We provide a series of models to make comparisons across all nations, distinguishing between less-affluent nations and affluent nations over a 50-year period. We focus our analysis on the fisheries footprint of less-affluent nations to further explore how the effect of economic development varies across levels of national economic prosperity, region, and time period. The results of the study indicate that, over time, economic development is increasingly driving the fisheries footprint in less-affluent nations. Because this effect does not occur in affluent nations, we posit that less-affluent nations suffer the ecologically deleterious consequences of economic development more acutely. Furthermore, by utilizing post-estimation techniques for easier comparisons, our findings suggest that the magnitude of economic development’s effect on fisheries is strongest in more recent decades. Our findings also reveal that the effect of economic development is modified by region, as it has a stronger effect on fisheries footprint for less-affluent nations in Central and South America, but weaker in the Middle East and Africa. We conclude with a discussion of the implications for marine sustainability and the challenges posed by an environmentally intensive world capitalist food system.