Rebecca Clausen

The Metabolic Rift and Marine Ecology An Analysis of the Ocean Crisis Within Capitalist Production

This article develops a theoretical foundation for understanding the human influence on the oceans and the resulting oceanic crisis as it relates to the depletion of fish stock and the expansion of aquaculture. Drawing on environmental sociology and insights from the historical materialist tradition, the authors study the nature-society dialectic as it relates to human interactions with the ocean for the capture of fish. We extend Marx’s concept of the metabolic rift to the marine environment to (a) understand the human transformations of the ocean ecosystem, (b) examine the anthropogenic (human-generated) causes of fish stock depletion, (c) study the development of aquaculture in response to the oceanic crisis, and (d) reveal the ecological consequences of ongoing capitalist production in relation to the ocean environment.

The Tragedy of the Commodity The Overexploitation of the Mediterranean Bluefin Tuna Fishery

This article develops a critique of the tragedy of the commons theory that is frequently applied to explain fisheries decline. In its place the authors offer the tragedy of the commodity as an alternative framework that better explains resource overexploitation and environmental degradation. They use a political economic analysis to discuss the social and ecological transformations that have occurred in the Mediterranean bluefin tuna fishery, with an emphasis on the Sicilian traditional trap fishery. Examining this case, the authors argue that Marx’s explanation of capitalist private property, commodity production, and the general formula for capital provide powerful theoretical guides for clarifying the social relations of production that have driven the overexploitation of fisheries in the recent past. Relying on historical and qualitative data, the case study illustrates the ways in which the social imperative of capitalist commodity production toward accumulating surplus-value directs production, reorganizes social relations, and transforms nature into an instrumental input that can more easily serve the needs of capital. The resulting ecological problems demonstrate the tragedy of the commodity.

The Oceanic Crisis: Capitalism and the Degradation of Marine Ecosystem

The world ocean covers approximately 70 percent of the earth. It has been an integral part of human history, providing food and ecological services. Yet conservation efforts and concerns with environmental degradation have mostly focused on terrestrial issues. Marine scientists and oceanographers have recently made remarkable discoveries in regard to the intricacies of marine food webs and the richness of oceanic biodiversity. However, the excitement over these discoveries is dampened due to an awareness of the rapidly accelerating threat to the biological integrity of marine ecosystemsThis article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.

Capitalism and the Commodification of Salmon: From Wild Fish to a Genetically Modified Species

On February 25, 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) closed the public comment period for the environmental assessment of the AquAdvantage Salmon. Their review of the first genetically modified animal for human consumption concluded with a “finding of no significant impact.” Numerous fishermen, consumer safety advocates, public health officials, ecologists, and risk assessment experts submitted comments that directly challenged this finding. Despite the opposition, it is very likely that the FDA’s approval of this genetically engineered salmon and precedent-setting regulatory process is imminent.… The aquaculture industry and corporate investors are championing this recent development in food biotechnology. They propose that this “invention” will yield ecological benefits, such as preserving wild salmon, while enhancing efficiency.… Unfortunately, the discussion of fisheries and oceans is constrained by ideological justifications that prevent a comprehensive assessment.… [The alternative approach presented here focuses on] how the logic of capital has shaped production and commodification processes. It also highlights how the most recent case of biotechnology in relation to salmon serves the needs of capital by increasing control of biological and ecological systems in order to better conform to economic dictates. The genetic modification of salmon is part of a biological speedup, whereby natural processes are transformed to achieve faster rates of return in the food marketplace.This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.

Time to Pay the Piper

Ariel Salleh, ed., Eco-Sufficiency and Global Justice: Women Write Political Ecology (New York: Pluto Press, 2009), 324 pages,

Fishy Business: Genetic Engineering and Salmon Aquaculture

34.00, paperback. In 2001, Wilma Dunaway wrote that the “tentacles of the world-system are entwined around the bodies of women.” Yet her literary analysis revealed a profound silence about the role of women in reproductive labor, subsistence households, and commodity chain analysis. Dunaway characterized this omission as, “the greatest intellectual and political blunder” in her field.…Nearly ten years later, Ariel Salleh has answered this unspoken call with the resounding voices of seventeen feminist scholars who address transdisciplinary issues of global political ecology. This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website , where most recent articles are published in full. Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.

Listen to Your Gut

The AquAdvantage salmon is the first genetically engineered animal to be considered for human consumption. We provide a sociohistorical analysis of how the decline of marine fisheries in general, and the growth of salmon farming in particular, created the political and economic foundation to support the development of a genetically engineered fish. We review the social and economic context of the genetically modified salmon, including a discussion of the precedent-setting regulatory status with the US Food and Drug Administration. As issues surrounding social equity and ecological efficiency associated with genetically modified foods are being debated in the public realm, we propose that it is necessary to move beyond the priorities of a market commodity and engage in a more robust review of sociological factors.

From Sea Slaves to Slime Lines: Commodification and Unequal Ecological Exchange in Global Marine Fisheries

When confronted with any big decision in life, I hear my mom’s voice telling me to listen to my gut. This has worked for personal adventures ranging from backpacking to parenting, even though at times it can be hard to quiet the social noise that prevents us from “hearing” what our instincts have to say. In Greed to Green, Charles Derber explores a new twist on the familiar “listen to your gut” adage by framing climate change inaction as the collective problem of not having a gut feeling about this planetary threat. Rather, he explains that we as a society have cordoned off knowledge of climate change as an intellectual concept, and have not allowed it to migrate to the realm of the gut truth.This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.

The Need for Ecological Restoration

Socioecological transformations of marine systems are intimately connected to the structure of the global capitalist economy, including its relationships of unequal exchange and the international division of labor. We highlight how unequal economic and ecological exchange are intertwined in fishing production in Southeast Asia, in particular Thailand, where capital receives more value in labor power and ecological wealth and services for less. In order to suppress production costs, slave labor is used to harvest fish, and child and migrant labor is employed in processing plants. These operations supply fish for the global market, with the largest shares flowing to Europe and the United States. As seafood production shifts with the ongoing growth of aquaculture, the depletion of target fish, and the expansion in the production of fishmeal and fish oil, the relationships that connect slave labor, slime lines, environmental degradation, and the depletion of marine systems become more embedded within a system predicated on the constant accumulation of capital that creates global social and ecological inequalities.

The Tragedy of the Commodity: Oceans, Fisheries, and Aquaculture

Scholars, scientists, politicians, and others are moved to write about climate change for a variety of reasons, including scientific advance, political influence, and public education. For the late Del Weston, the reason was clearly lovemfor people and for the earth. Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.