Modernization, Political Economy, and Limits to Blue Growth: A Cross-National, Panel Regression Study (1975-2016)

Seafood production and trade have expanded dramatically over the last 40 years and comprise one of the fastest growing, and most environmentally impactful, sub-sectors of the global food system. While richer nations have increased their seafood consumption and displaced their environmental load, the marine environmental impact of fishery production has largely shifted to the waters of less-affluent nations. To sustain fishing economies and seafood security, in an era of increasing marine ecological precarity constitutes a major challenge for development and human well-being in the 21st century. Blue growth perspectives emphasize the transformative power of growth-oriented development. Such perspectives conflict with critical political economic theories of environment and food systems; notably, the treadmill of production and world food system scholarship. Using annual data from the Global Footprint Network, World Bank, UN FAO, and International Monetary Fund, this study applies methods in cross-national, panel regression analysis in order to ultimately pose some important challenges to modernist blue growth perspectives. The analysis suggests that economic growth and incorporation into the world market economy have led to unsustainable and inequitable outcomes regarding the marine ecological impact of fisheries.