Regional Fisheries Management Organizations

This book analyzes empirical data from three specific Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) designed to establish rules for the conservation and management of fish stocks in the ocean, in order to assess their effectiveness in converting science into policy for the recovery and maintenance of fishery populations. The three RFMOs discussed are the CCAMLR (Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources), the ICCAT (International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas) and the CCSBT (Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna). The book seeks to understand when governments choose to listen to science, and establishes a framework to examine the institutional designs currently in place to accommodate RFMO policy suggestions and the conditions under which they are implemented successfully. The study will be of interest to academics and professionals broadly interested in global environmental governance and international relations, and will specifically appeal to policymakers, conservationists, and environmental researchers interested in fishery management and policy at the global and regional scale.