Adrian Arias

Combatting Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing with Information: A Case of Probable Illegal Fishing in the Tropical Eastern Pacific

A short account of how existing fisheries information collected by Regional Fisheries Management Organizations and coastal states can be used to expose illegal fishing. Here we draw on a little-known report, published in Spanish in Costa Rica, which reveals potential cases of illegal fishing from foreign tuna purse seiners. The cases, still pending action on behalf of the authorities, involve fishing without a licence, and the illegal use of fish aggregating devices. We discuss the broader implications of these cases, and suggest recommendations that could be adopted by Regional Fisheries Management Organizations and coastal states.

Addressing poaching in marine protected areas through voluntary surveillance and enforcement

Poaching renders many of the world’s marine protected areas ineffective. Because enforcement capacity is often limited, managers are attempting to bolster compliance by engaging the latent surveillance potential of fishers. However, little is known about how fishers respond when they witness poaching. Here, we surveyed 2,111 fishers living adjacent to 55 marine protected areas in seven countries and found that 48% had previously observed poaching. We found that the most common response was inaction, with the primary reasons being: (1) conflict avoidance; (2) a sense that it was not their responsibility or jurisdiction; and (3) the perception that poaching was a survival strategy. We also quantified how institutional design elements or conditions were related to how fishers responded to poaching, and highlight ways in which fishers can be engaged while mitigating risks. These include emphasizing how poaching personally affects each fisher, promoting stewardship and norms of personal responsibility and poverty alleviation to reduce the need for fishers to poach for survival.Poaching undermines the effectiveness of marine protected areas, where enforcement capacity is limited. In this study, fishers adjacent to MPAs were surveyed, and it was found that about half had observed poaching, but that most do not react so as to avoid conflict, or because they feel that this is either not their responsibility or that poaching is a survival strategy.