All caught up? Entangled in power, politics, and plastics: the case of abandoned, lost, or otherwise discarded fishing gear in the Baltic Sea

Abandoned, Lost, or otherwise Discarded Fishing Gear (ALDFG) contributes to marine plastic pollution, negatively impacting marine habitats and wildlife, and posing risks to human activities (e.g. tourism, maritime transport). To date, research has primarily focused on understanding and classifying types of ALDFG; investigating its impacts on the marine environment; or exploring potential management approaches to address it. Few studies focus on the complex governance of ALDFG, more particularly how power shapes actors’ interactions and collaborations across governance levels (e.g. regional and EU) and sectors (e.g. fisheries and waste management) to mitigate ALDFG. Through case analysis of ALDFG in the Baltic Sea as a Collaborative Governance Regime (CGR), we identify several governance challenges resulting from the interface between power and collaboration. First, multi-level governance causes power asymmetries that hinder capacity for joint action amongst actors at the regional level. Second, policy gaps create power vacuums that limit principled engagement from key actors. Finally, shared discourses lead to powerful regional narratives that weaken shared motivation and capacity for joint action between actors to address common challenges. By synthesizing theories of collaborative governance with power and testing this synthesis in the Baltic Sea region, we address both a gap in the literature on CGRs and identify opportunities that improve governance to mitigate ALDFG.