Designing locally-appropriate conservation incentives for small-scale fishers

Abstract

Large, long-lived marine animals (‘marine megafauna’) play critical roles in ocean ecosystems, however, they are threatened by overfishing. Technologies and practices that reduce fisheries’ impacts on marine megafauna are well documented, yet less is known about how to encourage their adoption. This is particularly challenging in small-scale fisheries (SSFs), where endangered species can have important consumptive use values. We used a novel combination of methods – scenario interviews with contingent valuation (CV) – to investigate how incentive-based interventions might influence fisher behaviour and reduce mortality of Critically Endangered taxa (hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna spp.) and wedgefish (Rhynchobatus spp.)) in two case study SSFs in Indonesia. Scenario interviews revealed that positive performance-based incentives were almost unanimously supported (98% and 96% of fishers would stop landing hammerheads and wedgefish, respectively). This is in contrast to 1% and 6% under a business as usual control scenario, and 52% and 46% in response to a regulation with a fine. Using CV, we estimated that an incentive-based scheme for catch mitigation of all hammerheads and wedgefish across both sites could cost US$71,620-298,820 annually, and save up to 18,500 hammerheads and 2,140 wedgefish relative to current catch baselines. This study provides empirical evidence that performance-based payments could offer a cost-effective, legitimate and socially-just approach for marine conservation in SSFs, and support “a sustainable and equitable blue economy” and “living in harmony with nature”. This is particularly important with the growing adoption of net-outcome goals for biodiversity, with studies such as this providing the basis for locally-appropriate investment ready schemes for bycatch-neutral seafood supply chains.

Drawing on local knowledge and attitudes for the conservation of critically endangered rhino rays in Goa, India

“…Monetary incentives (such as payments for ecosystem services) or disincentives (like fines or sanctions) may be effective in implementing conservation interventions but may also have unintended consequences (Booth et al, 2021;Muradian et al, 2013;Travers et al, 2016). On the other hand, social norms, culture and institutional arrangements can also shape individual behaviour, and can be an entry point for conservation (Booth et al, 2021;Ostrom, 1990).…”

Determining the economic costs and benefits of conservation actions: A decision support framework

“…Opportunity costs can be important determinants of decision‐making in practice, particularly when conservation actions can lead to significant economic losses. Similarly to financial benefits, estimates of the lost income from interventions can also be estimated through explicit market values, or revealed and stated preference studies (Booth, Ramdlan, et al, 2021; Booth, Squires, et al, 2021).…”

Exploring cost-effective management measures for reducing risks to threatened sharks in a problematic longline fishery

“…We suggest several options in Table 4, such as compensation/incentive schemes, but note that economic and rights-based instruments have received limited attention in smallscale fisheries and even less so in a shark conservation context (Bladon et al, 2016). In the future, it will be important to use interdisciplinary methods to explore the potential role of such instruments in delivering conservation outcomes for sharks, whilst maintaining the well-being of coastal communities (Booth et al, 2021a;Giron-Nava et al, 2021).…”

“…For example, retention bans with live release protocols could provide further cumulative conservation benefits for species within family Rhinidae (i.e., wedgefish), which exhibit relatively high post-capture survivability (Fennessy, 1994;Stobutzki et al, 2002;Wosnick et al, 2020). However, since wedgefish are not legally protected in Indonesia, and are also amongst the highest value species in domestic and international markets (Booth et al, 2021b;Hau et al, 2018), this may require a compensation/incentive scheme to encourage uptake amongst fishers (Booth et al, 2021a). Such programs have proven to be effective for reducing mortality of guitarfishes in small-scale fisheries in Brazil (Wosnick et al, 2020), and these lessons could easily be applied to similar situations in Indonesia.…”