Deciphering global marine product trade dynamics: Patterns, drivers, and policy insights

Abstract

Challenges like near shore fisheries depletion, constrained capacity in offshore environments, and high sea fishing costs underscore marine product trade’s pivotal role for countries balancing their market. As the continuous expansion of the global marine product trade, corresponding trade networks are becoming increasingly complex. An in-depth analysis of its intricate trade network becomes crucial. To this end, this paper utilizes global trade data during 2000–2022 to construct a weighted directed complex network, employing complex network analysis to examine its spatiotemporal evolution. Additionally, a geographically weighted regression model is employed to systematically analyze the factors influencing the global marine product trade network, and uncover its internal evolutionary mechanisms. The results indicate: 1) the number of nations engaged in global marine product trade has steadily increased, with import ones often outpacing export ones, signifying a seller-dominated market; 2) the trade partners for each nation have remained stable, but there has been a notable increase in export partners since 2015; 3) the USA, Spain, and Thailand maintain their leadership, with Japan diminishing and China rapidly ascending; 4) the influence of per capita GDP and population size is shaped by global economic stability and major events; 5) economic and population factors affect marine product trade with notable regional and temporal variation. These findings may help nations in crafting reasoned marine product trade policies, fostering international cooperation and sustainable development in marine fisheries.