Reef fishes that exhibit predictable aggregating behaviour are often considered vulnerable to overexploitation. However, fisher knowledge of this behaviour is often heterogeneous and, coupled with socioeconomic factors that constrain demand for or access to aggregated fish, will influence susceptibility to fishing. At two case study locations in Papua New Guinea, Ahus and Karkar islands, we con...

Commercial fishing is a dangerous occupation despite decades of regulatory initiatives aimed at making it safer. We posit that rights-based fisheries management (the individual allocation of fishing quota to vessels or fishing entities, also called catch shares) can improve safety by solving many of the problems associated with the competitive race to fish experienced in fisheries around the wo...

This paper considers ocean fisheries as complex adaptive systems and addresses the question of how human institutions might be best matched to their structure and function. Ocean ecosystems operate at multiple scales, but the management of fisheries tends to be aimed at a single species considered at a single broad scale. The paper argues that this mismatch of ecological and management scale ma...

Executive Summary Introduction Recreational fishing represents a popular and highly valued use of marine resources, with participation by a large percentage of the U.S. population. Nonetheless, many recreational fisheries, including a number of fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) recreational reef fish complex, show trends towards shorter seasons, smaller bag limits and more restrictive size ...

Abstract Subsistence fishing is a confusing and heterogeneous fishery construct. Even so, its connection to human protection compels us analyze it through the lens of rights. Using case Chile due legal peculiarities, we aim determine scope Chilean legislation on subsistence fishing, integrating international treaties rights, law, reports from United Nations agencies regarding three issues. Firs...

We study an individual transferable quota system with imperfect enforcement. We apply a model of individual fisherman behavior to the red shrimp (Pleuroncodes monodon) fishery in central-southern Chile. Simulation results suggest that illegal fishing could generate a 21% increase in fishing effort, resulting in a 13% increase in catch and a 2% lower quota price in comparison with the results of...

There is an urgent need to quantify the impacts of artisanal fisheries and define management practices that allow for the recovery and conservation of exploited stocks. The extent of illegal catch is particularly critical as a driver of overexploitation in artisanal fisheries. However, the lack of data at proper spatial scales limits the evaluation of illegal fishing and effectiveness of manage...

Responses to over-fishing are very similar. Efforts begin with gear restrictions, area closures and seasonal closures. Entry restrictions, including a license moratorium and a license buyback program, often follow. The results are similar too. Over-fishing and effort increases continue. Common property (not open access) regimes (community development quotas—CDQs), private property regimes (indi...