Understanding Recreational Fishers' Compliance with No-take Zones in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
Understanding fishers' compliance is essential for the successful management of marine protected areas. We used the random response technique (RRT) to assess recreational fishers' compliance with no-take zones in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP). The RRT allowed the asking of a s...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Resilience Alliance
2013-12-01
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| Series: | Ecology and Society |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol18/iss4/art18/ |
| _version_ | 1819004625388306432 |
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| author | Adrian Arias Stephen G. Sutton |
| author_facet | Adrian Arias Stephen G. Sutton |
| author_sort | Adrian Arias |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Understanding fishers' compliance is essential for the successful management of marine protected areas. We used the random response technique (RRT) to assess recreational fishers' compliance with no-take zones in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP). The RRT allowed the asking of a sensitive question, i.e., "Did you, knowingly, fish within in a Green Zone during the last 12 months?" while protecting respondents' confidentiality. Application of the RRT through a survey of recreational fishers indicated that the majority of recreational fishers, 90%, comply with no-take zones. Likewise, most fishers, 92%, reported not personally knowing anyone who had intentionally fished in a no-take zone, indicating that fishers' perceive high levels of compliance among their peers. Fishers were motivated to comply with no-take zones primarily by their beliefs about penalties for noncompliance, followed by beliefs about the fishery benefits of no-take zones. Results suggest that compliance-related communication efforts by the managing authority have partially succeeded in maintaining appropriate compliance levels and that future efforts should accentuate normative compliance drivers that will encourage voluntary compliance. We conclude that compliance monitoring should be integrated into the adaptive management of the GBRMP and other protected areas; in this case social surveys using the RRT are effective tools. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T23:39:52Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0423b9391fbe4517831ee184ffdb47d8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1708-3087 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T23:39:52Z |
| publishDate | 2013-12-01 |
| publisher | Resilience Alliance |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecology and Society |
| spelling | doaj.art-0423b9391fbe4517831ee184ffdb47d82022-12-21T19:23:07ZengResilience AllianceEcology and Society1708-30872013-12-011841810.5751/ES-05872-1804185872Understanding Recreational Fishers' Compliance with No-take Zones in the Great Barrier Reef Marine ParkAdrian Arias0Stephen G. Sutton1Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook UniversitySchool of Earth and Environmental Sciences, James Cook UniversityUnderstanding fishers' compliance is essential for the successful management of marine protected areas. We used the random response technique (RRT) to assess recreational fishers' compliance with no-take zones in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP). The RRT allowed the asking of a sensitive question, i.e., "Did you, knowingly, fish within in a Green Zone during the last 12 months?" while protecting respondents' confidentiality. Application of the RRT through a survey of recreational fishers indicated that the majority of recreational fishers, 90%, comply with no-take zones. Likewise, most fishers, 92%, reported not personally knowing anyone who had intentionally fished in a no-take zone, indicating that fishers' perceive high levels of compliance among their peers. Fishers were motivated to comply with no-take zones primarily by their beliefs about penalties for noncompliance, followed by beliefs about the fishery benefits of no-take zones. Results suggest that compliance-related communication efforts by the managing authority have partially succeeded in maintaining appropriate compliance levels and that future efforts should accentuate normative compliance drivers that will encourage voluntary compliance. We conclude that compliance monitoring should be integrated into the adaptive management of the GBRMP and other protected areas; in this case social surveys using the RRT are effective tools.http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol18/iss4/art18/compliancefalse consensus effectGreat Barrier Reefillegal fishingmarine protected areamarine reserveno-take zonespoachingrandom response technique (RRT)recreational fishing |
| spellingShingle | Adrian Arias Stephen G. Sutton Understanding Recreational Fishers' Compliance with No-take Zones in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Ecology and Society compliance false consensus effect Great Barrier Reef illegal fishing marine protected area marine reserve no-take zones poaching random response technique (RRT) recreational fishing |
| title | Understanding Recreational Fishers' Compliance with No-take Zones in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park |
| title_full | Understanding Recreational Fishers' Compliance with No-take Zones in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park |
| title_fullStr | Understanding Recreational Fishers' Compliance with No-take Zones in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park |
| title_full_unstemmed | Understanding Recreational Fishers' Compliance with No-take Zones in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park |
| title_short | Understanding Recreational Fishers' Compliance with No-take Zones in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park |
| title_sort | understanding recreational fishers compliance with no take zones in the great barrier reef marine park |
| topic | compliance false consensus effect Great Barrier Reef illegal fishing marine protected area marine reserve no-take zones poaching random response technique (RRT) recreational fishing |
| url | http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol18/iss4/art18/ |
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