Fisheries Compliance

Photo: Maria Hauck

Fisheries management, worldwide, struggles to find a balance between protecting resources, ensuring equitable access to resources and promoting economic efficiency and stability. To try to achieve this balance, central governments have intervened by formulating policies and establishing rules and regulations, with the aim of ensuring compliance. However, it has been widely recognised that non-compliance in fisheries is widespread, and researchers and management authorities continue to grapple with the factors that lead to non-compliance.

In South Africa, the problem of fisheries non-compliance has been highlighted as a priority issue for management authorities. However, there is a lack of understanding of the underlying factors that lead to non-compliance and appropriate strategies that could be used to enhance resource sustainability at the same time as protecting livelihoods. The main aim of this research project is to develop and apply an analytical framework for understanding, analysing and addressing compliance issues in small-scale fisheries in South Africa.