Moving beyond financial value in seafood commodity chains

© 2018 Elsevier Ltd Emerging forms of governance and many academic analyses of seafood commodity chains currently have a strong focus on financial value, transmitted in a linear ‘vertical’ fashion from fisher, through traders to eventual consumers. This Brief Communication argues that the social dimensions of value must be given explicit attention in analysis if seafood commodity chains are to be made more equitable and sustainable in changing governance contexts. The paper draws on evidence from selected seafood commodity chains across the Philippines, demonstrating the range of co-produced social values that are of equal or greater significance than financial value. Fishers, traders and consumers, all generate multiple social values that shape the nature and outcomes of seafood commodity chains. In contrast to forms of fisheries governance that focus exclusively on financial or ecological values, the paper suggests that integrating multiple social values into the governance of seafood commodity chains, as well as at the site of production, should become a core focus of research and policy