TY - JOUR
T1 - Flexibility through bundles of capital
T2 - The capabilities of Indonesian small-scale handline tuna fishers under voluntary sustainability certification
AU - Wiranthi, Puspi Eko
AU - M. Toonen, Hilde
AU - Oosterveer, Peter
PY - 2024/10
Y1 - 2024/10
N2 - As key tuna producers and exporters globally, developing countries are exposed to voluntary sustainability certification to respond to market and consumer demands. Only recently, small-scale fisheries have received attention in this respect. Despite small volumes traded, fishing activities are essential for maintaining the livelihoods of small-scale fishers. Their environmental footprint is lower than large-scale fisheries, yet lack of capital, capabilities, and conflicting interests along the value chain have hindered their participation in certification schemes. This study employs Sen's capability approach to understand the extent to which a voluntary standard develops the capabilities of small-scale tuna fishers. We use a case study of the Fair Trade USA Capture Fisheries Standard (CFS) in the province of Maluku, Indonesia, established in collaboration with an Indonesian non-governmental organization, Yayasan Masyarakat dan Perikanan Indonesia. We show that fishers use a bundle of different kinds of capitals to develop their capabilities for compliance with the certification standard. This bundle of capitals consists of a combination of prescribed capitals (the capitals necessary to comply with the certification standard) and alternative capitals that fishers use to develop their abilities for their compliance. Instead of using human capital as emphasized by the certification standard, in this study, we found that fishers use social capital as their main capital to comply with the standard, which makes it the primary source for improving their capabilities. In conclusion, we found support for the need to strengthen flexibility in the implementation of sustainability standards to increase their effectiveness as a sustainability governance mechanism.
AB - As key tuna producers and exporters globally, developing countries are exposed to voluntary sustainability certification to respond to market and consumer demands. Only recently, small-scale fisheries have received attention in this respect. Despite small volumes traded, fishing activities are essential for maintaining the livelihoods of small-scale fishers. Their environmental footprint is lower than large-scale fisheries, yet lack of capital, capabilities, and conflicting interests along the value chain have hindered their participation in certification schemes. This study employs Sen's capability approach to understand the extent to which a voluntary standard develops the capabilities of small-scale tuna fishers. We use a case study of the Fair Trade USA Capture Fisheries Standard (CFS) in the province of Maluku, Indonesia, established in collaboration with an Indonesian non-governmental organization, Yayasan Masyarakat dan Perikanan Indonesia. We show that fishers use a bundle of different kinds of capitals to develop their capabilities for compliance with the certification standard. This bundle of capitals consists of a combination of prescribed capitals (the capitals necessary to comply with the certification standard) and alternative capitals that fishers use to develop their abilities for their compliance. Instead of using human capital as emphasized by the certification standard, in this study, we found that fishers use social capital as their main capital to comply with the standard, which makes it the primary source for improving their capabilities. In conclusion, we found support for the need to strengthen flexibility in the implementation of sustainability standards to increase their effectiveness as a sustainability governance mechanism.
KW - Capabilities
KW - Fair Trade USA Capture Fisheries Standard
KW - Indonesia
KW - Small-scale fisheries
KW - Tuna
KW - Voluntary standard
U2 - 10.1016/j.marpol.2024.106296
DO - 10.1016/j.marpol.2024.106296
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85198119667
SN - 0308-597X
VL - 168
JO - Marine Policy
JF - Marine Policy
M1 - 106296
ER -