Adapting to Regional Enforcement: Fishing Down the Governance Index

Background
Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing is a problem for marine resource managers, leading to depletion of fish stocks and negative impacts on marine ecosystems. These problems are particularly evident in regions with weak governance. Countries responsible for sustainable natural resource management in the Southern Ocean have actively worked to reduce IUU fishing in the region over a period of 15 years, leading to a sequence of three distinct peaks of IUU fishing.
Methodology/Principal Findings
We reviewed existing public records relating to IUU fishing in the Southern Ocean between 1995–2009 and related this information to the governance capacity of flag states responsible for IUU vessels. IUU operators used a number of methods to adapt to enforcement actions, resulting in reduced risks of detection, apprehension and sanctioning. They changed fishing locations, vessel names and flag states, and ports for offloading IUU catches. There was a significant decrease in the proportion of IUU vessels flagged to CCAMLR countries, and a significant decrease in the average governance index of flag states. Despite a decreasing trend of IUU fishing, further actions are hampered by the regional scope of CCAMLR and the governance capacity of responsible states.
Conclusions/Significance
This is the first study of long-term change in the modus operandi of IUU fishing operators, illustrating that IUU operators can adapt to enforcement actions and that such dynamics may lead to new problems elsewhere, where countries have a limited capacity. This outsourcing of problems may have similarities to natural resource extraction in other sectors and in other regions. IUU fishing is the result of a number of factors, and effectively addressing this major challenge to sustainable marine resource extraction will likely require a stronger focus on governance. Highly mobile resource extractors with substantial funds are able to adapt to changing regulations by exploiting countries and regions with limited capacity.

研究背景
非法、未报告和无管制捕捞（Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing, IUU）是海洋资源管理者面临的棘手难题，会导致鱼类种群枯竭并对海洋生态系统造成负面影响。此类问题在治理能力薄弱的地区尤为突出。15年来，负责南大洋可持续自然资源管理的国家积极推进该区域IUU捕捞的治理工作，使得该区域的IUU捕捞先后出现三次明显的峰值。

研究方法与主要发现
研究团队梳理了1995年至2009年间南大洋IUU捕捞的现有公开记录，并将这些信息与IUU作业船只所属船旗国的治理能力进行关联分析。IUU捕捞从业者采取多种手段以应对执法行动，从而降低了被查获、扣押和处罚的风险：他们会变更捕捞地点、船只名称、船旗国以及卸载IUU渔获的港口。研究发现，悬挂南极海洋生物资源养护委员会（Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, CCAMLR）成员国船旗的IUU船只占比显著下降，同时所属船旗国的平均治理指数也显著降低。尽管IUU捕捞整体呈下降趋势，但CCAMLR的区域管辖范围以及各责任国的治理能力，仍制约了后续治理行动的推进。

研究结论与意义
本研究首次针对IUU捕捞从业者的作业模式长期演变展开系统性分析，结果表明IUU捕捞从业者能够适应执法行动的变化，而这种动态适应行为可能会在治理能力有限的其他国家和地区引发新的问题。这种问题的转嫁现象，与其他行业及区域的自然资源开采活动存在相似性。IUU捕捞是多种因素共同作用的结果，要有效应对这一可持续海洋资源开发面临的重大挑战，或许需要进一步强化治理工作。拥有充足资金、具备高度流动性的资源开采者，能够通过利用治理能力有限的国家和地区来适应不断变化的监管要求。