The DOI matches its Crossref record; 57 of the 57 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Transnational Corporations as ‘Keystone Actors’ in Marine Ecosystems
Open accessAbstract
Keystone species have a disproportionate influence on the structure and function of ecosystems. Here we analyze whether a keystone-like pattern can be observed in the relationship between transnational corporations and marine ecosystems globally. We show how thirteen corporations control 11-16% of the global marine catch (9-13 million tons) and 19-40% of the largest and most valuable stocks, including species that play important roles in their respective ecosystem. They dominate all segments of seafood production, operate through an extensive global network of subsidiaries and are profoundly involved in fisheries and aquaculture decision-making. Based on our findings, we define these companies as keystone actors of the Anthropocene. The phenomenon of keystone actors represents an increasingly important feature of the human-dominated world. Sustainable leadership by keystone actors could result in cascading effects throughout the entire seafood industry and enable a critical transition towards improved management of marine living resources and ecosystems.
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![Fig 1 Revenues of the 160 largest seafood companies. Revenues of the 160 largest seafood companies in 2012 [12, 13] (circles, data show as mean ± s.e.m.) with the top ten per cent indicated by the dashed line, and corresponding revenues of the top 16 seafood companies in 2007 [10] (triangles). Maruha Group (ranked 1st in 2007) and Nichiro Corporation (ranked 5th in 2007) merged in 2008 to form Maruha Nichiro (ranked 1st in 2012). Pacific Andes (ranked 15th in 2007) acquired China Fishery Group Limited (ranked 23rd in 2007) and is currently the 9th largest seafood company in the world.](/paper-figures/532d6f6698d74e6ab5155b3ec0c6cbf1/transnational-corporations-as-keystone-actors-in-marine-ecosystems-figure-1.jpg)
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“A handful of transnational corporations control large (>50%) shares of supply chains in agriculture, fishing, logging, and mining ( 71 , 72 )”
From Pervasive human-driven decline of life on Earth points to the need for transformative change (2019) · cites this paper as [71]
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“whereas funds channeled through tax havens support most illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing ( 71 , 73 ), creating governance challenges.”
From Pervasive human-driven decline of life on Earth points to the need for transformative change (2019) · cites this paper as [71]
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Citations
Cites
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Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Anonymous. <chapter-title>In for the long term—Sustainability Report 2011</chapter-title>. <publisher-loc>Hong Kong</publisher-loc>: <publisher-name>Pacific Andes</publisher-name>, <year>2012</year>.
Cited by
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Pervasive human-driven decline of life on Earth points to the need for transformative change
Díaz, S., Settele, J., Brondízio, E. S., Ngo, H. T., Agard, J., Arneth, A., Balvanera, P., Brauman, K. A., Butchart, S. H. M., Chan, K. M. A., et al. (2019) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.aax3100 · Cited by 2,926
Social-ecological resilience and biosphere-based sustainability science
Folke, C., Biggs, R., Norström, A. V., Reyers, B., & Rockström, J. (2016) · Ecology and Society · doi:10.5751/es-08748-210341 · Cited by 1,485
Self-citationFolke, C. (2016) · Ecology and Society · doi:10.5751/es-09088-210444 · Cited by 982
Self-citationOur future in the Anthropocene biosphere
Folke, C., Polasky, S., Rockström, J., Galaz, V., Westley, F. R., Lamont, M., Scheffer, M., Österblom, H., Carpenter, S. R., Chapin, F. S., et al. (2021) · AMBIO · doi:10.1007/s13280-021-01544-8 · Cited by 863
Self-citationThe Blue Acceleration: The Trajectory of Human Expansion into the Ocean
Jouffray, J., Blasiak, R., Norström, A. V., Österblom, H., & Nyström, M. (2020) · One Earth · doi:10.1016/j.oneear.2019.12.016 · Cited by 797
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Metadata
- Authors
- Österblom, H., Jouffray, J.-B., Folke, C., Crona, B., Troell, M., Merrie, A., & Rockström, J.
- Affiliations
- Stockholm Resilience Centre (SE)
- Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (SE)
- Corresponding author
- Österblom, Henrik
- Jouffray, Jean-Baptiste
- Folke, Carl
- Crona, Beatrice
- Troell, Max
- Merrie, Andrew
- Rockström, Johan
- ORCID
- Venue
- PLOS ONE
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science (PLoS)
- Published
- 2015-05-27
- Volume
- 10
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- e0127533
- ISSN
- 1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC4446349
- OpenAlex
- W1560630840
- Cited by
- 276
- References
- 55
- Citations by year
- 2026: 16 · 2025: 25 · 2024: 27 · 2023: 35 · 2022: 27 · 2021: 29 · 2020: 40 · 2019: 20 · 2018: 19 · 2017: 21 · 2016: 15 · 2015: 2
- FWCI
- 15.58
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Aquatic Science › Marine and fisheries research
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law › Coastal and Marine Management
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Coastal Fisheries and Human Impacts
- Keywords
- multinational corporations, marine ecosystems, seafood production, fisheries, aquaculture, subsidiaries, fish stocks, Anthropocene, sustainable leadership, marine resource management
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Fisheries, Industry, Oceans and Seas, Professional Corporations, Ecosystem, Aquaculture, Internationality, Ecological and Environmental Phenomena, Policy
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