Oppositions and alliances between ICCAT contracting parties through an analysis of co-sponsorship of management recommendations

Abstract

We conducted a social network analysis (SNA) of the co-sponsorship of management measures at annual ICCAT Commission meetings from 2016 to 2022 with the aim of understanding the alliances between contracting parties. Our findings revealed that European Union, the USA and, to a lesser extent, Japan, Canada or the United Kingdom appear as key players in terms of cohesion and fragmentation centrality indicators, while the most central proposals in terms of management measures concern those on sharks (mainly focused on banning shark finning) and those on mitigating the effects of fishing on turtles. Based on the evolution over time of centrality measures of the SNA, the decrease in nestedness indicates that "specialist" CPCs (those who submit few proposals each year) are less and less associated with “generalist” CPCs (those who submit several management proposals each year). Although ICCAT's social network does not show a fragmented structure with small groups of CPCs isolated from each other, 2 co-sponsoring communities have nevertheless emerged: the COMHAFAT and OPESCA groups. both structured around a regional homophily. This paper also discusses the socio-economic and political factors external to ICCAT meetings that can influence partnerships in the management of large pelagic fishes in the Atlantic Ocean. These influential factors illustrate the complexity of asymmetric relationships between countries operating with long-distance fleets and developing coastal countries.