Linking Scales of Regulation to Scales of Environmental Change Processes

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Linking Scales of Regulation to Scales of
Environmental Change Processes

• By
• Tim McDaniels and Hadi Dowlatabadi
• UBC, CMU, CISHDGC

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Acknowledgements

• Thanks to the CISHDGC, supported by the NSF
• Thanks to the Centers of Excellence in
  Aquaculture Research supported by the Canadian
  SSHRC and NSERC
• Thanks to Sara Stevens, Holly Longstaff, Patricia
  Keen, Daniel Galland and Kira Gerwing

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Basic Message

• There are scales within regulatory structures for
  global change issues, as well as scales in many
  other dimensions (e.g., space, time, trophic
  levels, etc)
• Effective regulation requires matching scales of
  regulation to the nature and scales of
  institutional decisions required for that issue
• Mismatches and gaps in scales of regulation can
  be an underlying of source of conflict or
  regulatory failure

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Outline

• Multiple Scales in Regulatory Contexts
• Aquaculture as a global change process
• Salmon Aquaculture in British Columbia multiple
  scales and gaps
• Implications for linking regulation to scales

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Multiple Scales In Global Change

• Many writers have stressed the importance of
  scale in understanding global change issues
• Concerns for scales range from biological to
  human systems, from patterns of leaves to
  patterns of landscapes, and from local to global
  levels
• Example Rotmans and Rothman (eds.) 2003

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Cash and Moser, 2000 typology of regulatory
problems across scales

• Problems of Institutional fit
• Mismatch in scale at which institutions enact
  regulation and the scale of environmental problem
• Problems of Scale Discordance
• Mismatch between scale of assessment and scale at
  which information is needed for regulation
• Problems of Cross-Scale dynamics
• Regulation proceeds at one scale but problem
  operates across many scales

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Gaps, but no regulatory framework?

• There seems to be little writing on the nature of
  or ideals for regulatory structures in problems
  with multiple scales
• Some related concepts (federalism, instrument
  choice) but these do not directly address notions
  of regulatory tasks in problems with multiple
  scales

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Thoughts on a definition

• A cross-scale regulatory problem arises when the
  impacts of an activity extend beyond the
  boundaries of initial institutional control for
  the activity
• Hence any externality as defined by economists is
  a cross-scale problem. The impacts of a
  transaction extend beyond the parties to the
  transaction (the market as the institution)

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Simple example

• Emissions from one power plant have regional
  impacts and so require regulation beyond the
  local or plant level
• Emissions from all the power plants in a region
  have impacts on national and international air
  quality and so require even broader levels of
  regulation

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Scale Problems Everywhere

• With this definition, scale problems arise in all
  kinds of situations (levels and kinds of urban
  development, siting facilities, fisheries,
  technology standards, reliability, global change,
  air, water etc)
• What is the nature of regulation across scales
  for these contexts?

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Flows Across Scale Levels

• From broader to narrower (e.g., regional to
  local)
• Constraints on activities (bounds of operation)
  to address the broader level implications of
  local activities
• From narrower to broader (e.g., local to
  regional)
• The acceptability and desirability of the bounds
  of operation, as seen from the narrower level

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Information needed across scales

• Flows in both directions (up and down)
• Values of the interested parties (what is
  important, their views on tradeoffs)
• Alternatives and their impacts
• Wise, justifiable choices more acceptable
• A sense of trust in the process, belief in
  fairness, needed for acceptance when constraints
  hurt
• Hence effective regulation across scales requires
  understanding of values, technical information
  and good decision process

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Figure 1. Flows of Constraints, Feedback and
Information in Regulatory Structures for Issues
with Multiple Scales
Broader Scale
INFORMATION
FEEDBACK
CONSTRAINTS
Broader Values and Alternatives
Constraints on Activities to Operate within
Broader Scale Limits and Goals
Acceptability of Constraints on Activities to
Meet Broader Scale Limits and Goals
Narrower Values and Alternatives
Narrower Scale
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Possible Implications

• When some elements are missing, at one or more
  scales, cross-scale problems can arise in
  regulation
• The wider the range of scales, the greater
  potential for gaps or mismatches
• Diagnose gaps and mismatches with an eye to
  prescriptions for improvement

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Aquaculture as global change

• Earths land surface was transformed by emergence
  of agriculture
• Remote coastlines following this same pattern,
  only faster
• Decline of wild fisheries
• Growth in aquaculture based on property rights

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Aquaculture as global change

• Doubling in volume and value from 1987-97
• (Nature, 2000, Naylor et al)
• Diverse kinds and effects of aquaculture
• Herbivores versus carnivores
• shellfish versus finfish
• Substantial ecological implications
• Farming up the food chain
• Disease spread, introduced species
• Substantial habitat loss
• Major social, cultural, economic implications

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Salmon Aquaculture

• Salmon aquaculture phenomenal growth in Norway,
  Scotland, BC, Chile, NZ
• Dominated by five multinational corporations
  (capital, knowledge, markets, technology)
• Impacts focused on remote coastlines, small
  (Native) communities
• Major controversies over environmental (fish
  disease, escapes, effects on shellfish) and
  social impacts (effects on neighbors,
  communities), food and economic benefits

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Salmon Aquaculture in BC

• Remarkable growth since 1985 (large areas of
  seascape on Canadas west coast are altered)
• Substantial environmental, social and economic
  impacts
• Multiple scales are apparent, and a good way to
  examine complexity in the industry

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B.C. Salmonid Aquaculture Production (1984-2001)
Source FAO Statistical Database
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Typical BC Fish Farm Site (1)
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Typical BC Fish Farm Site (2)
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Policy Decisions At Each Scale

• International scale
• What role should salmon aquaculture play in
  worldwide food production?
• National scale
• What role should salmon aquaculture play in
  Canada?
• Regional Scale
• What is the best scale and type of salmon
  aquaculture?
• Local Scale
• Where should salmon farms be sited?

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Policies in place

• International fits within trade, food agreements
• National highly encouraged, if sustainable
• Provincial highly encouraged
• Local ranges from despised to tolerated

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BC Regulatory Mismatches

• Site-by-site regulation is focus through
  permitting (federal and provincial agencies)
• Cumulative (regional) impacts are profound
• Potential for disease spread (sea lice) to wild
  stocks, escapes (colonizing) all regional
• Siting and permits supposed to address cumulative
  impacts, but have no basis or method
• Enormous frustration, direct action against
  siting farms, particularly in Native communities
  

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Local to regional conflicts

• Province, Feds regulate the environmental aspects
  of aquaculture
• Local government has control of land use
• In last two years, three farms with all
  provincial and federal permits in place, turned
  down at the local level due to concerns over
  environmental impacts
• Cause of great dismay among fish farm investors
  and regulators in senior governments

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Diagnosis

• lack of real attention to cumulative impacts
  leads to a major regulatory gap
• An underlying source of controversy and
  frustration because key issues are unaddressed
• Local governments try to take up cumulative
  impacts although beyond their expertise
• Problems of institutional fit, scale discordance,
  cross-scale dynamics all evident

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4.) Implications

• Regulatory gaps at multiple scales are a subtle
  yet important source of failure to address global
  change
• Concepts of the nature of and ideals for
  regulation across scales is a start to understand
  these gaps
• The gaps may be greatest at the global level
• nations advocate strongly for their economic and
  sovereignty interests, with few looking out for
  global well-being

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Adding to the typology of regulatory gaps

• A competence gap
• the higher level is not able to understand or
  make use of lower level values, its own values,
  the alternatives and the impacts in setting
  constraints on lower level operations (e.g., lack
  of attention to cumulative impacts)
• A legitimacy gap
• the higher level is not seen as legitimate or
  fair in setting lower level constraints on
  operations (e.g., Native protests, local refusals)

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The distance across the scales

• A suggestion
• A wider distance between the scale at which
  driving forces lead to change, and the scale at
  which impacts are manifest, leads to greater
  potential for regulatory gaps

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Worldwide Salmonid Aquaculture Production
(1986-2001)
Source FAO Statistical Database
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Worldwide Salmonid Capture (1950-2001)
Source FAO Statistical Database
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Table 2. Summary of Government Regulatory
Responsibilities for Salmon Aquaculture in B.C.
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Our various papers/theses

• Multiple scales and regulatory mismatches (Sara
  Stevens)
• Linking objectives and performance measures
  (Holly Longstaff)
• Risk ranking among experts (Patricia)
• Evolution of siting criteria (Daniel Galland)
• First Nations values and indicators (Kira
  Gerwing)
• Risk Communication experiment about GM fish food
  for salmon aquaculture (Holly again)

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Additional Purpose

• Report to and thank NSF for our support through
  the CISHDGC at CMU
• Results from one of several products from one of
  four projects from last year
• Leveraged support of 80K (Cdn) from Canada
  Centers of Excellence in Aquaculture (SSHRC and
  NSERC)

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Purpose

• Use our research as a basis for exploring
  implications of regulatory approaches
• Examine concepts regarding regulatory gaps and
  mismatches across scales
• Illustrate with examples from salmon aquaculture

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Typical BC Fish Farm Site (1)
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Canadas Salmonid Capture (1950-2001)
Source FAO Statistical Database
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Insights from our related projects

• Using value-focused thinking to clarify how
  objectives and measures change as scales of
  decisions increases
• Actors and regulatory structures at every major
  decision scale
• Means-ends networks to show how various ends are
  related to policy choices

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The End

• Paper in draft