Reducing Undesirable Environmental Impacts in the Marine Environment: A Review of Market-Based Incentive Management Measures

Using the example of commercial fishing, this paper explores the potential of incentive based management measures as a means of reducing the undesirable impacts of industries operating within the marine environment. Despite having been successfully applied for similar purposes in the management of terrestrial environments, and their potential to achieve environmental gains in an economically efficient manner, examples of incentive based management mechanisms are still relatively limited in the marine context. We assess the potential of a number of alternative market based management measures by reviewing and considering the successes and limitations of previous applications and how these would translate in the case of commercial fishing. Several fishing methods and conservation values are considered and the circumstances in which incentive measures may be most applicable are identified. Where appropriate, and by either replacing or (more likely) complimenting existing management arrangements, incentive based measures have the potential to improve upon the performance of existing measures. This has a number of implications. From the environmental perspective they should allow the expected level of undesirable impact to be reduced. They can also reduce the costs imposed upon the industry by letting them develop the solutions. Further, in the increasingly relevant case of MPAs the potential costs to Government may also be significantly reduced if increasing environmental performance makes it possible for certain industry members to continue operating, reducing the necessity of often costly structural adjustment programs.Environmental Economics and Policy,

Can incentive-based spatial management work in the Eastern tuna and billfish fishery?

The Eastern tuna and billfish fishery (ETBF) is currently managed through an input quota system based on individual transferable effort units (the number of hooks) and a total allowable effort level (i.e. total number of hooks) A spatial management policy based on a series of differential hook-penalties has been proposed as a flexible tool to discourage vessels operating in certain areas (e.g. those with high bycatch potential) and encourage operating in other areas (e.g. with less bycatch potential). In this study, the importance of catch rates per hook to location choice is assessed through the estimation of a nested multinomial logit model. Other variables in the model include distance to the location, prices of the main species, fuel prices and vessel characteristics. The effects of increasing hook penalties in key areas on fishing effort in those areas and elsewhere are assessed. Implications for vessel economic performance are also assessed.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Effectiveness of interventions to shift drivers of roving banditry and reduce illegal fishing by Vietnamese blue boats

Illegal fishing via roving banditry, or fishing illegally in other countries’ territorial waters, continues to threaten the security, sustainability, and biodiversity of global marine resources. Yet, little is known about the behavioral drivers of banditry, and whether interventions can shift these. We address this critical knowledge gap by quantitatively surveying 82 fishers in two known port havens (Da Nang and Sa Ky, central Vietnam) for roving banditry by Vietnamese “blue boats,” before and after interventions aimed at reducing illegal fishing. We present three key findings: (1) displacement from the South China Sea and degraded local resources were primary behavioral drivers, (2) interventions increased perceptions of risk and shame if apprehended, and (3) the source of bail money (i.e., family vs. business) was highly predictive of whether fishers saw punishment as an adequate deterrent to illegal fishing. Lastly, we discuss the implications of these findings for regional policy and management strategies

The Intersection Between Illegal Fishing, Crimes at Sea, and Social Well-Being

Illegal, unregulated, and unreported (IUU) fishing is a major contributor to global overfishing, threatening food security, maritime livelihoods, and fisheries sustainability. An emerging narrative in the literature posits that IUU fishing is associated with additional organized criminal activities, such as drug trafficking, human trafficking, slavery, and arms smuggling. This literature review resolves the contradiction between the common narrative that fisheries and other crimes are linked by presenting three distinct business models for maritime criminal activities

Biodiversity Offsets: A Cost-Effective Interim Solution to Seabird Bycatch in Fisheries?

The concept of biodiversity offsets is well established as an approach to environmental management. The concept has been suggested for environmental management in fisheries, particularly in relation to the substantial numbers of non-target species—seabirds in particular—caught and killed as incidental bycatch during fishing activities. Substantial areas of fisheries are being closed to protect these species at great cost to the fishing industry. However, other actions may be taken to offset the impact of fishing on these populations at lower cost to the fishing industry. This idea, however, has attracted severe criticism largely as it does not address the underlying externality problems created by the fishing sector, namely seabird fishing mortality. In this paper, we re-examine the potential role of compensatory mitigation as a fisheries management tool, although from the perspective of being an interim management measure while more long-lasting solutions to the problem are found. We re-model an example previously examined by both proponents and opponents of the approach, namely the cost effectiveness of rodent control relative to fishery area closures for the conservation of a seabird population adversely affected by an Australian tuna fishery. We find that, in the example being examined, invasive rodent eradication is at least 10 times more cost effective than area closures. We conclude that, while this does not solve the actual bycatch problem, it may provide breathing space for both the seabird species and the industry to find longer term means of reducing bycatch

Countering avoidance strategies used by fishers to avoid detection during illegal fishing

Non-compliers typically avoid detection by authorities, benefiting from increased catch and income. While detection-avoidance strategies (e.g., secret compartments to hide illegal catch) are commonly used in the nature conservation context, they remain largely unstudied. We address this knowledge gap in three sections. First, we introduce and hypothesize the likelihood of non-compliers adopting detection-avoidance strategies in the broader conservation context. Second, we identify and categorize detection-avoidance strategies used by small-scale fishers. Third, we provide recommendations for countering detection-avoidance strategies (i.e., countermeasures). Because countermeasures are context-specific, they should be informed through systematic processes such as the intelligence cycle. If used properly, enforcement activities and countermeasures can help build voluntary compliance, particularly through procedural justice, or acting in a way that users perceive as fair and just

The Lino Site: A Stratified Late Archaic Campsite in a Terrace of the San Idelfonzo Creek, Webb County, Southern Texas

Archeologists from TRC Mariah Associates Inc. of Austin conducted mitigation excavations at the Lino site (41WB437) during a six-week period in April and May 1998 under contract with the Texas Department of Transportation, Environmental Affairs Division. The prehistoric archeological site was within the right-of-way of the planned expansion of Highway 83, south of Laredo. A single 196 m2 block measuring 7m north-south by 28 m east-west was investigated following requirements of a contract that stipulated a three-pronged approach to data recovery. First, a Gradall™ was employed to carefully strip 2 to 4 cm thick layers in eight 3m wide areas within the block. Balks measuring 80 cm wide by 120 cm tall were left standing between each 3 m wide Gradall™ -stripped area. The material discovered in situ during the Gradall™ stripping was plotted using a total data station. When clusters of cultural materials were encountered during the Gradall™ stripping, these were designated as features, and a series of manual excavations in 1 by 1 m units were dug around each feature. The matrix surrounding these features was screened and in situ data recorded with the total data station. Feature matrix was collected and floated in the laboratory. A total of 124 m2 were hand excavated around 24 recognized features discovered during Gradall™ stripping. Upon reaching the target depth of 120 cm below the surface, the Gradall™ stripping ceased, having mechanically removed 187 m3 of deposits

Magnetic polarizability of a charged pion from four-point functions in lattice QCD

Electromagnetic dipole polarizabilities are fundamental properties of a hadron that represent its resistance to deformation under external fields. For a charged hadron, the presence of acceleration and Landau levels complicates the isolation of its deformation energy in the conventional background field method. In this work, we explore a general method based on four-point functions in lattice QCD that takes into account all photon, quark and gluon interactions. The electric polarizability ($\alpha_E$) has been determined from the method in a previous proof-of-principle simulation. Here we focus on the magnetic polarizability ($\beta_M$) using the same quenched Wilson action on a $24^3\times 48$ lattice at $\beta=6.0$ with pion mass from 1100 to 370 MeV. The results from the connected diagrams show a large cancellation between the elastic and inelastic contributions, leading to a relatively small and negative value for $\beta_M$ consistent with chiral perturbation theory. We also discuss the mechanism for $\alpha_E+\beta_M$ from combining the two studies.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, 1 table. Version accepted for publication in PRD. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:2301.0520

Estimating illegal fishing from enforcement officers

While illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing is a premier issue facing ocean sustainability, characterizing it is challenging due to its clandestine nature. Using Chile as an example, researchers present a structured process leveraging existing capacity, fisheries officers, that provides a monitoring tool to produce transparent and stand-alone estimates on the level, structure, and characteristics of illegal fishing