Stockholms universitet, Stockholm Resilience Centre
Abstract
The widespread practice of discarding dead fish is believed to negatively affect the sustainability of fish stocks. Between 2015-2019 a landing obligation, aiming to gradually eliminate this practice, is introduced in all EU fisheries. The Landing Obligation (LO) forces fishers to land all catch and requires monitoring at sea rather than on land, it is therefore anticipated to be particularly difficult to enforce. Based on this, the perceived legitimacy of the policy among fishers is believed to be of greatest importance to ensure successful implementation. To create an understanding of fishers’ commitment to uphold the LO, this study examines Swedish demersal West Coast fishers’ perceived legitimacy of the LO through qualitative interviews. In the interviews Swedish fishers expressed a dual commitment towards upholding the LO. On the one hand, the fishers are overall highly committed to avoiding unwanted catch, which is shown by a positive attitude towards the use and development of selective gear. On the other hand, many are sceptical to the practical formation of the LO, which is at times perceived as incoherent with the fishers’ ecological understanding, as well as with individual fishing practices and policy aims. Finally there are indications of a lack of trust from fishers in the knowledge and intentions of fishery managers, which creates a barrier for commitment to any fishery policy. For the LO to succeed it is important that fishers develop their practices to avoid unwanted catch. Therefore, it is important to facilitate fishers’ commitment to the policy’s aim rather than merely focusing on compliance with the policy rules
