Upgrading or unhelpful? Defiant corporate support for a marine protected area

• Main Author: Burmester, Brent
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Subjects: Antarctic; New Zealand; Ross Sea; Antarc*; Antarctic Toothfish
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X15000688

Fishing firms sometimes give political support to marine conservation measures that seem contrary to their commercial interest. To explain this apparent paradox, an analysis is made of the stance taken by a New Zealand company in response to a proposed marine protected area in the Ross Sea. The firm defected from its industry’s opposition to the proposal, choosing to support the reserve. The analysis uses concepts from corporate political strategy to identify why such support might be forthcoming, and under what conditions. The article argues that a firm endorsing a conservation initiative in defiance of its industry intends to engineer a redistribution of profit and control within its global production network, regardless of any public benefit. While there was in this instance a public benefit in the form of potential environmental upgrading, the firm’s strategy risks compromising the effectiveness and impartiality of marine governance organizations. Antarctic toothfish; Ross Sea; CCAMLR; Corporate political strategy; Global production network; Sanford;