INTRODUCTION

Fisheries have an inherent ecological and sociological nature (Moyle and Cech 1982), so optimally, fisheries are managed to sustain both components. Finding this balance becomes increasingly complex in a globalized world. Specifically, a globalized world is one in which information, communication, and transportation innovations are combined with loss of cultural boundaries, as well as aggressive trade liberalization, growth in transjurisdictional investment, deepening integration of capital markets, and accelerated speed of capital relocation (Conca 2001). Globalization makes the scope of complexity for environmental regulation increasingly ineffective (Friedman 2000). This book covers the current debate about the effect of globalization on world fisheries, delivers a review and synthesis of research in the field, and, most importantly, illustrates how globalization has become one of the primary drivers influencing the sustainability of the world's fisheries resources.

However, global fisheries are also an industry and every industry can be broken down into its supply chain components. A supply chain is the sequence of steps, often completed by different firms and locations, that produce a final good from primary factors. The supply chain starts with raw materials, continues with production, and ends with final assembly, distribution, and wholesale (Deardorff 2005). Global fish production constitutes a supply chain, delivering fish and fish products or recreation to customers throughout the world (Fig. 21.1).

Because of the complexity of the global fisheries industry, we believe that it is useful to organize our summary through a supply chain analysis.