The quality of compliance: investigating fishers’ responses towards regulation and authorities

Abstract

A substantial amount of scientific effort goes into understanding and measuring compliance in fisheries. Understanding why, how and when fishers follow or violate rules is crucial for designing effective fishery policies that can halt overfishing. Non‐compliance was initially explained almost exclusively with reference to economic and self‐interested motivations. More recently, however, most explanations involve a combination of economic, social, political and environmental factors. Despite this recent development towards more holistic explanations, many scientists continue to frame the issue in binary terms: fishers either follow rules, or they don't. In this article we challenge this binary interpretation and focus attention on the diversity of fishers’ dispositions and perceptions that underpin compliant behaviour. To this aim we construct a typology of fishers’ responses towards regulation and authorities, thereby developing conceptual tools to understand different motivations and attitudes that underlie compliance outcomes. For this purpose, we identify the motivational postures of ‘creativity’ and ‘reluctance’, and then highlight their empirical relevance with an interview study of Swedish fishers. Reasons for studying the quality and diversity of fishers’ motivations and responses are not purely academic. Conceptualizing and observing the quality of compliance can help policymakers and managers gauge and anticipate the potentiality of non‐compliant fishing practices that may threaten the resilience of marine ecosystems.

Sustainability: A flawed concept for fisheries management?

“…Historic declines in some stocks have been reversed, and stocks and ecosystems now show clear trends of recovery (e.g., Worm et al, 2009;ICES, 2017;Lynam et al, 2017). There is also a growing realisation in the industry that sustainability is a valid issue for fish stocks and that fisher representation can create good management policies with greater ecological benefits (Salomon et al, 2011;Di Franco et al, 2016;Stephenson et al, 2016), although where this realisation is absent, there is still a reluctance of fishers to comply with management measures (Boonstra et al, 2017).…”

Incentive effect of joint and several liability in fishery cooperatives on regulatory compliance

“…There is an extensive literature supporting the idea that Becker's framework (Becker, 1968) for explaining criminal activity (i.e., models relying on costs and revenues associated with illegal behaviour) provides an incomplete model of regulatory compliance in fisheries as it does not account for the social factors that influence the behaviour of agents (Boonstra, Birnbaum, & Björkvik, 2017;Cardenas, 2011;Eggert & Lokina, 2010;Hatcher, Jaffry, Thébaud, & Bennett, 2000;Jackson et al, 2012;Nielsen, 2003;Sutinen & Kuperan, 1999). There is also some evidence that self-organization and co-management systems, which include fishery cooperatives, may be a means of strengthening cooperation and social capital (Defeo et al, 2016;Hilborn, 2007;Jentoft, 2000;Libecap, 1994;Ostrom, 1990;Soma, van Tatenhove, & van Leeuwen, 2015).…”

Level of Compliance of Traditional Fishing Vessels to Fisheries Department Regulations in Pangkor Island

“…Non-compliance or violation of fisheries regulations is one of the main problems in marine ecosystems [2]. Most of the issues arisen behind the non-compliance were due to problems of enforcement and management by the local authorities [3].…”

“…Among the reasons of the non-compliance were elements of abuse of power by the local government agencies, weak enforcement of the Fisheries Act and its associated regulations, lack of trust towards authorities among the fishermen and political interference by politicians in power [2]. Additionally, some fishermen have claimed to have lost their faith towards the authorities because of cases of power abuse and complaints by them have not been properly addressed.…”

“…The problem encountered is in term of non-compliance of their fishing vessel operations to the regulations produced by the fisheries authority [1]. According to an earlier finding, the regulations may not be fully complied by the fishermen as they may not be fully enforced, the information may not reach the fishermen or there could be other reasons for their non-compliance [2]. Therefore, this study aims to determine the level of compliance of fishing vessel operations towards Fisheries Department Regulations among fishermen operating small traditional boats in Pangkor Island and to identify the reasons behind the non-compliance.…”