Compliance Evaluation and Sustainable Resource Management in the CCAMLR

Regional fisheries organisations globally are feeling the impacts of non-compliant behaviour by both contracting and non-contracting parties. Non-compliance arising from activities such as illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, or failures by flag states to appropriately report the activities of their vessels, has resulted in damage to the environment and damage to the performance of regional fisheries management organisations themselves. As a result, many of these organisations are adopting and implementing a relatively new mechanism to tackle non-compliance: the compliance evaluation procedure. This article demonstrates that by adopting a compliance evaluation procedure, regional fisheries organisations are better placed to identify and address non-compliance in an effort to improve compliance with their conservation measures. It analyses in detail the procedure adopted by one particular organisation, the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), to suggest that implementation of their procedure has improved transparency, accountability and enforcement. It is argued that the CCAMLR compliance evaluation procedure represents a model for other polar and high seas areas to promote sustainable, and responsible, fishing practices globally.

Effective Governance and Policy Implementation in Governing High Seas Fisheries: A Comparative Study of Three Regional Fisheries Management Organizations

<p>Two-thirds of fish stocks commercially fished on the high seas are either depleted or overexploited. Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) are key international actors having the legal competence to establish fishery conservation and management measures to improve the optimal and sustainable utilization of high seas fisheries resources. The literature suggests that their effectiveness is varied. While some RFMOs are making progress towards more sustainable fisheries, some are facing fish stock depletion. The literature indicates that organizational governance design and quality of implementation are central to the disparities. Thus far, while most of the discussion has focused on the effectiveness, and how to enhance the transparency of RFMOs, very little research has explored the designs of governance arrangements and implementation of RFMOs. Accordingly, this study contributes to the literature on governance arrangements and policy implementation of the high seas by offering in-depth case studies of the selected RFMOs. It employs qualitative methods to analyze data collected from semi-structured interviews with 24 actors (i.e., officials, delegations, and fisheries experts), as well as a collection of published and unpublished documents regarding three selected RFMOs. The three selected RFMOs are the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT), the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), and the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization (SPRFMO). The findings show that it is possible to apply Ostrom’s (1990) design principles to uncover how RFMOs can be designed for higher performance in governing high seas fisheries. However, adjusted and additional design principles are necessary to have a better understanding of the factors that contribute to sustainable high seas fisheries. For example, the design principles should include policy learning and adaption, particularly in the regional and global contexts, so as to address complexities and uncertainties. Furthermore, the research reveals a number of critical factors of RFMO policy implementation, such as strong political will and commitment, the availability of proper resources and coalitions. This study concludes with recommendations for policymakers of the RFMOs to better achieve their overarching objectives.</p>

Effective Governance and Policy Implementation in Governing High Seas Fisheries: A Comparative Study of Three Regional Fisheries Management Organizations

<p>Two-thirds of fish stocks commercially fished on the high seas are either depleted or overexploited. Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) are key international actors having the legal competence to establish fishery conservation and management measures to improve the optimal and sustainable utilization of high seas fisheries resources. The literature suggests that their effectiveness is varied. While some RFMOs are making progress towards more sustainable fisheries, some are facing fish stock depletion. The literature indicates that organizational governance design and quality of implementation are central to the disparities. Thus far, while most of the discussion has focused on the effectiveness, and how to enhance the transparency of RFMOs, very little research has explored the designs of governance arrangements and implementation of RFMOs. Accordingly, this study contributes to the literature on governance arrangements and policy implementation of the high seas by offering in-depth case studies of the selected RFMOs. It employs qualitative methods to analyze data collected from semi-structured interviews with 24 actors (i.e., officials, delegations, and fisheries experts), as well as a collection of published and unpublished documents regarding three selected RFMOs. The three selected RFMOs are the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT), the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), and the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization (SPRFMO). The findings show that it is possible to apply Ostrom’s (1990) design principles to uncover how RFMOs can be designed for higher performance in governing high seas fisheries. However, adjusted and additional design principles are necessary to have a better understanding of the factors that contribute to sustainable high seas fisheries. For example, the design principles should include policy learning and adaption, particularly in the regional and global contexts, so as to address complexities and uncertainties. Furthermore, the research reveals a number of critical factors of RFMO policy implementation, such as strong political will and commitment, the availability of proper resources and coalitions. This study concludes with recommendations for policymakers of the RFMOs to better achieve their overarching objectives.</p>

Improving Regional Fisheries Management Organisation Decision-Making: New Hope in the South Pacific?

<p>Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) play a key role in promoting the sustainable management of high seas fisheries. However, many RFMOs are not succeeding in this task. Whilst overexploited fish stocks can be blamed on illegal fishing and on States reluctant to implement robust conservation and management decisions, fault can also be found in the design of RFMO decision-making processes, specifically the use of consensus-based decision-making and objection procedures. This paper evaluates whether a new RFMO, the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation, and its ‘cutting edge’ decision-making procedure, can act as a model for more effective RFMO decision-making.</p>

Improving Regional Fisheries Management Organisation Decision-Making: New Hope in the South Pacific?

<p>Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) play a key role in promoting the sustainable management of high seas fisheries. However, many RFMOs are not succeeding in this task. Whilst overexploited fish stocks can be blamed on illegal fishing and on States reluctant to implement robust conservation and management decisions, fault can also be found in the design of RFMO decision-making processes, specifically the use of consensus-based decision-making and objection procedures. This paper evaluates whether a new RFMO, the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation, and its ‘cutting edge’ decision-making procedure, can act as a model for more effective RFMO decision-making.</p>

Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs)

The U.S. participates in transboundary management of migratory and high seas fisheries species as a signatory to 14 major intergovernmental conventions, treaties, and regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) throughout the Atlantic and Pacific basins. The U.S. is also a participant in several other international living marine resource (LMR), conservation, and scientific organizations. The reason is that in addition to domestic fisheries resources contained within its EEZ, international, transboundary, and high seas fisheries contribute significantly to U.S. fisheries landings, revenue, and LMR-based employments. This chapter briefly describes those participatory RFMOs and related organizations, and presents some summary statistics related to the ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) criteria noted throughout the regional chapters in this book. Significant progress has been made toward greater understanding of Atlantic and Pacific ecosystems within RFMO jurisdictions, but as expected, generally, progress toward EBFM in RFMOs has been slower than in other regions within the US EEZ, with several challenges remaining unique to what are often taxa-oriented organizations. Given that advances toward EBFM have been occurring throughout several RFMOs, with specific progress of adopting ecosystem considerations occurring in various jurisdictions, particularly in the Antarctic.

Comparative International Fisheries Management

High-seas fisheries are managed by a set of approximate 20 regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) that vary in terms of membership, structure, processes, and health of the stocks they manage. These RFMOs have tackled similar challenges in sometimes different and sometimes convergent ways, learning from each other and occasionally collaborating. This chapter gives an overview of the difficulties of international fisheries management; the primary regulatory approaches (and their evolution) in these organizations, such as voting rules and options to opt out of collective regulations; and the efforts to monitor and enforce rules that have been created. Individually and sometimes collectively RFMOs have worked to decrease the ability of states or vessels to fish outside of the regulatory process, including making it difficult for fish caught outside of RFMO rules to find markets, and they have increased the ability to monitor compliance. While some scholars argue that the regional nature of fisheries management causes problems and that there should be fewer organizations regulating international fisheries, RFMOs have resisted consolidation or management collaboration. Ultimately there is still much to be learned about the sources of effectiveness in management of high-seas fisheries.

Assessment of Regional Fisheries Management Organizations Efforts toward the Precautionary Approach and Science-Based Stock Management and Compliance Measures

The sustainable management of the ocean as a global food source has been prominent in recent debates due to the disproportionate rate of human consumption, depletion of fish stocks and shortcomings in conservation efforts. Criticisms from various sectors on the effectiveness of Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMO) in relation to their mandates have prompted performance reviews (PRs) to evaluate their efforts in fisheries management. Among concerns are slow implementation of comprehensive harvest strategies which use science-based indicators and management principles. Moreover, RFMOs are expected to apply the precautionary approach, in the hopes of anticipating, monitoring, preventing and mitigating potential threats. The emergent themes are revealed through content analysis pertaining to cooperation and compliance being essential to fisheries management activities in conjunction with choosing the right operational approaches and the proper implementation of various fisheries regulations. Government mandates and stakeholder’s recommendations support fisheries management organizations to function more effectively. This article discusses the role of coercive, normative and mimetic pressures in RFMOs activities, as described in recent performance reviews. It then analyses how RFMOs have implemented the precautionary approach together with science-based stock management and compliance measures, utilizing recent PRs to assess progress on relevant recommendations.

Virtual Regional Fisheries Management Meetings in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean Region: A Preliminary Appraisal of Performance and Fit

Regional fisheries meetings that support the management of Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) capture fisheries are usually held face-to-face and in-person. In 2020, the travel and gathering bans due to the global COVID-19 pandemic meant that these meetings were held “virtually,” primarily via videoconferencing. But can virtual meetings perform the same functions and deliver the same management outcomes as face-to-face meetings? This study is an initial investigation of the experiences, perceptions and attitudes of WCPO region government participants in a number of virtual regional fisheries meetings in 2020. Results indicate a strong preference for face-to-face regional meetings, with the perception that virtual meetings performed comparatively poorly at supporting a number of key meeting processes and outcomes. However, one-quarter to one-third of study participants consistently found no difference between format performance for many meeting processes and outcomes. Virtual formats were considered more appropriate for smaller and non-regional meetings, and allowed for greater staff attendance at meetings as well as cost and time savings for some, but not all, participants. Study participants believe that virtual regional meetings will be more common in the region in the future, despite nearly half indicating that virtual meeting are not a good fit for the region generally. Many of these experiences and perceptions are consistent with organizational behavior, communications media, and information systems literature. Some results appear unique to the region’s socially and culturally diverse Pacific island countries and territories, which are relative newcomers to the global information and communication technology “revolution.” A greater use of virtual regional fisheries meetings in the future requires meeting hosts and facilitators to carefully consider the potential impacts of virtual meetings on effective communication and inclusive participation in WCPO regional fisheries management and other governance outcomes.