Transboundary Fisheries Research Articles

Research for development: evidence-based hilsa management improvements in Myanmar

The hilsa (Tenualosa ilisha) fishery in Myanmar is of importance as it provides an income for around 1.6 million artisanal low-income fisher households and generated USD 237.32M in export earnings from 156,000 metric tons in 2021. Fisheries Performance Indicator assessments have shown that the fishery, both artisanal and industrial, is close to economic collapse. Research was undertaken to find ways to improve the management of the fishery including studies to establish the migration routes and spawning periodicity of hilsa in addition to socioeconomic assessments and business case valuations to recommend finance mechanisms for improved management and maintenance of the fishery. Results indicate that the closed season for hilsa fishing misses the main spawning period in September. In addition, the chemical analysis of hilsa otoliths shows the importance of upstream spawning grounds – some 800km from the sea. Recommendations were made, and enacted March 2022, regarding the need for a new September closed season in addition to no-take hilsa sanctuaries along the main migration routes. A value was placed on the hilsa fishery at close to USD800M per annum. A USD100M annual investment cost is suggested to ensure that the new and old closed seasons are respected by licensed and unlicensed fishers. This investment could be generated by recommended fiscal reforms to provide incentives for fishers to respect the new fishing restrictions. Transboundary fisheries management opportunities are being advanced by informal tripartite scientific collaboration between Bangladesh, India and Myanmar. Social aspects, involving fisheries co-management with artisanal fisher communities and local government authorities, need to be continued to demonstrate the benefits of improved fisheries management in terms of the expected sustainable yields and a move away from potential economic fishery collapse.

Managing inter-organizational trust and risk perceptions in transboundary fisheries governance networks

Transboundary fishery management represents a significant governance challenge that requires ongoing inter-organizational communication, collaboration, and collective action to ensure sustainability. Previous research suggests that different dimensions of perceived risk, trust, and control interact in complex ways to affect inter-organizational collaborative performance, providing an administrative ‘architecture’ that enables partners to share resources, engage in teamwork, resolve conflict, and coordinate tasks and responsibilities while also allaying their concerns about the alliance. However, the extent to which different control mechanisms influence trust and mitigate the perceived risks of collaboration between the diverse organizations involved in transboundary fisheries management remains unclear. This paper presents the quantitative results of survey research conducted in the Salish Sea of North America, an ecosystem spanning the Canada-US border between British Columbia and Washington State. The survey instrument operationalizes a multi-dimensional trust-control-risk framework considered suitable for studying inter-organizational natural resource management (NRM) networks. The findings support descriptions of the Salish Sea as having fewer nation-to-nation governing bodies resulting in a lack of effective formal controls, high perceived regulatory risk, and low procedural trust attributes that can negatively affect the collaborative performance of the fishery management network. This study represents the first quantitative analysis of the complex relationships between different inter-organizational management strategies, trust dimensions, and perceived risks in transboundary fisheries governance, and offers new directions for future research on NRM collaboration.

Dynamic human, oceanographic, and ecological factors mediate transboundary fishery overlap across the Pacific high seas

AbstractThe management and conservation of tuna and other transboundary marine species have to date been limited by an incomplete understanding of the oceanographic, ecological and socioeconomic factors mediating fishery overlap and interactions, and how these factors vary across expansive, open ocean habitats. Despite advances in fisheries monitoring and biologging technology, few attempts have been made to conduct integrated ecological analyses at basin scales relevant to pelagic fisheries and the highly migratory species they target. Here, we use vessel tracking data, archival tags, observer records, and machine learning to examine inter‐ and intra‐annual variability in fisheries overlap (2013–2020) of five pelagic longline fishing fleets with North Pacific albacore tuna (Thunnus alalunga, Scombridae). Although progressive declines in catch and biomass have been observed over the past several decades, the North Pacific albacore is one of the only Pacific tuna stocks primarily targeted by pelagic longlines not currently listed as overfished or experiencing overfishing. We find that fishery overlap varies significantly across time and space as mediated by (1) differences in habitat preferences between juvenile and adult albacore; (2) variation of oceanographic features known to aggregate pelagic biomass; and (3) the different spatial niches targeted by shallow‐set and deep‐set longline fishing gear. These findings may have significant implications for stock assessment in this and other transboundary fishery systems, particularly the reliance on fishery‐dependent data to index abundance. Indeed, we argue that additional consideration of how overlap, catchability, and size selectivity parameters vary over time and space may be required to ensure the development of robust, equitable, and climate‐resilient harvest control rules.

Drivers of conflict and resilience in shifting transboundary fisheries

Climate change is causing fish stocks to shift, upending the social-ecological systems that rely on the historic distributions of these stocks and creating or exacerbating fisheries conflicts. The movements of internationally shared stocks between Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) or between EEZs and the high seas are especially concerning because they bring into play a variety of geopolitical factors and equity issues surrounding missing or conflicting regulations of jurisdictional boundary zones. Though many studies have explored the responses to and repercussions of shifting stocks on fisheries management, there is a dearth of interdisciplinary case studies that provide insight into the complexity of conflict formation in shifting transboundary fisheries, and that highlight the initial response stages where inclusion of proactive and cooperative measures can greatly improve a system’s resilience to conflict. Our study helps to fill this gap by drawing on the knowledge of a diverse group of experts to analyze four case studies where transboundary stock shifts, geopolitical or governance tensions, and uncertainty regarding the future of the marine environment collide. Through synthesis of case study findings, we create a causal model of fishery conflict, within which we highlight factors that may heighten or mitigate the risk of conflict over shifting resources such as complex histories of power imbalance, unequal access to resources, or a lack of consistent and transparent data collection. Cooperation and equitable decision-making processes are recognized as vital components of internationally shared stock management which can promote lasting, effective, and conflict-resilient fisheries.

Scalar politics in transboundary fisheries management: The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission as an eco-scalar fix for South Pacific albacore tuna management

Scholars and policymakers have debated the correct scales for managing and conserving ocean resources for decades. To address the conservation and management of highly migratory fish species, like tuna, countries have established regional fisheries management organisations (RFMOs) to regulate transboundary fisheries at the scale of oceanic regions. However, in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean region, countries have expanded their tuna management efforts to encompass multiple and overlapping intergovernmental institutions operating at regional and subregional scales. Scholars have argued that this proliferation of institutions across scales—including the development of the region’s RFMO, the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC)—has strengthened transboundary tuna management. However, while scholars focus on the successes of scalar dynamics in the tropical purse seine fishery, less attention has been devoted to the smaller and less valuable southern longline fishery, where management progress has stalled. Management inaction at multiple scales has impacted the status of the fishery’s target stock, South Pacific albacore, and domestic fishing and processing industries in Pacific Island countries and territories. This article employs a scalar politics lens to consider why multi-scalar efforts to improve southern longline fishery management have produced no decisive change in management outcomes. Analysing over a decade of management debate and subregional institutional development, the article argues that the WCPFC has operated as an ‘eco-scalar fix’ in managing the southern longline fishery. Through a combination of ecological and political factors unique to the fishery, this eco-scalar fix has enabled distant water fishing countries to locate political authority with the WCPFC while shifting the responsibility for management reform onto the subregional efforts of Pacific Island countries. This case complicates and contributes to debates concerning scale in transboundary fisheries management by concluding that the effects of scalar politics on management outcomes are uneven and the product of asymmetrical, interest-driven dynamics among countries seeking to advance their interests in industrial fisheries.

Transboundary Fisheries Management in Kavango–Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA-TFCA): Prospects and Dilemmas

Inland fisheries in the Kavango–Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA-TFCA) offer food security to the riverine communities across the region. They also contribute towards the attainment of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals 1 and 15, which aim to alleviate poverty and maintain biodiversity conservation. Despite this significant role, the fisheries have suffered severe declines in the previous decades due to multiple factors, such as overfishing and poor legislation. Furthermore, climate change is exerting pressure by altering the ecology and productivity of the river systems. The unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic have further constrained management efforts. Attempts to address these challenges have pointed towards transboundary fisheries management as a silver bullet in moving towards sustainable fisheries management. However, the implementation of this strategy in the region has encountered numerous roadblocks, thereby subjecting the river ecosystem to a wider environmental threat, with dire consequences on livelihoods. This paper reviews existing management and governance structures together with key informant interviews to elicit primary and secondary data essential for management at the regional level. The study identifies conflicting regulations, and inadequate policies and institutions across the region as major bottlenecks affecting the successful implementation of transboundary fisheries management. Finally, the paper offers some suggestions for the improvement of fisheries management in the region.

Cross regime UNCLOS and UNFCCC cooperation to address loss and damage from climate-shifted transboundary fisheries

After 40 years of implementation, the UNCLOS regime faces new challenges particularly in regard to transboundary fisheries management. As designed, UNCLOS created legal responsibilities for States to formally cooperate through regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs), regional fisheries management arrangements (RFMAs) or other formal relationships to conserve and manage transboundary fisheries. The UN Fish Stocks Agreement was later concluded to provide for better coordination among member States for transboundary fisheries management. UNCLOS and Fish Stocks Agreement do not provide actionable guidance about how to manage transboundary fisheries stocks migrating in response to climate change beyond seeking cooperation and coordination. RFMOs should be filling this gap with equitable management measures. As oceanic conditions continue to change under climate change, however, there is a clear need for cooperation across international regimes to address the physical, economic, and cultural losses of States that are de minimis contributors to climate change, including Pacific Ocean and Caribbean island states. Noting the slow response of RFMOs to addressing loss and damage associated with shifting fisheries, this paper examines the possibility of triggering the UNFCCC Warsaw Implementation Mechanism (WIM) to link the interests of UNCLOS parties for sustainable use of fisheries resources with the interests of UNFCCC parties to accelerate climate change adaptation by remedying losses and damages associated with climate impacts. This paper calls for the WIM to assist in facilitating transboundary agreements between States and between RFMOs and States for loss and damage associated with shifting fisheries.

Balancing the asymmetry of knowledge of the transboundary white seabass (Atractoscion nobilis) fishery resource: Landings reconstruction along the west coast of the Baja California Peninsula

The white seabass (Atractoscion nobilis) is an important transboundary fishery resource exploited by the U.S. and Mexico. White seabass commercial landing estimates for the past 100 years have formed the basis of U.S. management regulations. However, species-specific landing records for white seabass are unavailable for Mexico and management efforts based on fishery trends are not possible. To better document the Mexican harvest of white seabass and the factors contributing to annual landing trends in the commercial fishery, we used a six-step process to reconstruct white seabass harvest along the west coast of the Baja California Peninsula from 1949 to 2019. Although historical records obtained from Mexican Fisheries Statistics Year Books and those from Official Catch Landings Reports do not directly align. Both data sources show that overall Mexican white seabass landings has increased over the last 30 years with disparate regional trends. The increase is largely from the small-scale gillnet fleet of Baja California Sur, which accounts for more than 97% of the total catch. Based on the Official Catch Landings Reports, estimated landings show a large increase (228%) over the past 20 years. The landings reconstruction estimates provide baseline information that can be used to better manage and monitor the white seabass in Mexico. Further, given the transboundary nature of the resource, these data may help establish the information needed to explore co-management efforts with the U.S. This work highlights the value of the white seabass to the fisheries off Baja California and supports the need for the continued collection of new and accurate information on catch levels, fishing effort, and stock structure of this transboundary resource.

Clustering of disaggregated fisheries data reveals functional longline fleets across the Pacific

<h2>Summary</h2> Ensuring the long-term sustainability of tuna, billfish, and other transboundary fisheries resources begins with data on the status of stocks, as well as information concerning who catches what fish, when, where, and how. Despite recent improvements in fisheries monitoring and surveillance, such dynamics remain poorly understood across the high seas. Here we delineate and describe pelagic longline activity in the Pacific Ocean using a framework that integrates descriptive vessel information and tracking data with species-specific catch reports. When parsed by distinct vessel behaviors and attributes, disaggregated fisheries data highlight the existence of multi-national, multi-specific (i.e., targeting multiple species) fishing fleets, many of which target waters that span more than one management area. Our findings emphasize the need for increased coordination across regional and sub-regional governance bodies and suggest that effective and equitable management of the sector may require efforts to move beyond single-species, single-area controls and operational distinctions based primarily on vessel flag and/or gear type alone.

Decent work in a seascape of livelihoods: Regional evaluation of the shrimp and groundfish fishery of the Guianas-Brazil shelf

With growing evidence of labor violations and exploitative working conditions in fisheries, ensuring decent work is imperative to protect fishers and fishworkers in the global seafood sector. This study provides the first evaluation of decent work in a shared, transboundary fishery – the shrimp and groundfish fishery of the Guianas-Brazil Shelf. Decent work in fisheries has gained increasing attention and research, yet gaps exist in our understanding of the elements of decent work, how we evaluate it, and how to enable decent work. To date, there has been limited analysis of decent work in a range of geographies and diverse fisheries contexts, including small-scale fisheries and transboundary fisheries. This study will address this gap by evaluating decent work, utilizing a new fishery-specific, holistic evaluation framework drawing from existing frameworks including the ILO Work in Fishing Convention (C188), the Monterey Framework for Social Responsibility, and the FAO Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries. This evaluation details country-level challenges that put fishers and fishworkers at risk in their occupation, including illegal fishing, vessel safety, and worker representation. This paper concludes with recommendations, to be advanced with a transboundary, regional approach, to ensure decent work and strengthen existing progress, including 1) addressing widespread illegal activities, 2) adopting fisheries-specific standards like C188, 3) implementing and enforcing policies at the country and regional level, and 4) ensuring worker representation and participation leveraging cooperatives and collectives.

Who Gets the Catch? How Conventional Catch Attribution Frameworks Undermine Equity in Transboundary Fisheries

The focus on flag States for the purpose of attributing fisheries catch is inconsistent with the assignment of sovereign rights to coastal States under international law and undermines equity in contemporary quota allocation negotiations. We propose modernizing reporting frameworks to include zone-based reporting of fish catches to more equitably present data, ensure consistency with the Law of the Sea, and better support the realization by developing coastal States of their development aspirations consistent with SDG 14, Life Below Water. States are already required to collect the data necessary to support this change, and many regional fisheries management authorities already do so. Reforms to data collection and reporting mechanisms should support zone-based catch attribution as a central feature of negotiations around access to future fishing opportunities on shared resources. Doing so will ensure that the sovereign rights of developing coastal States are properly accounted for and implemented.

Timing and magnitude of climate-driven range shifts in transboundary fish stocks challenge their management.

Climate change is shifting the distribution of shared fish stocks between neighboring countries’ Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) and the high seas. The timescale of these transboundary shifts determines how climate change will affect international fisheries governance. Here, we explore this timescale by coupling a large ensemble simulation of an Earth system model under a high emission climate change scenario to a dynamic population model. We show that by 2030, 23% of transboundary stocks will have shifted and 78% of the world's EEZs will have experienced at least one shifting stock. By the end of this century, projections show a total of 45% of stocks shifting globally and 81% of EEZs waters with at least one shifting stock. The magnitude of such shifts is reflected in changes in catch proportion between EEZs sharing a transboundary stock. By 2030, global EEZs are projected to experience an average change of 59% in catch proportion of transboundary stocks. Many countries that are highly dependent on fisheries for livelihood and food security emerge as hotspots for transboundary shifts. These hotspots are characterized by early shifts in the distribution of an important number of transboundary stocks. Existing international fisheries agreements need to be assessed for their capacity to address the social–ecological implications of climate‐change‐driven transboundary shifts. Some of these agreements will need to be adjusted to limit potential conflict between the parties of interest. Meanwhile, new agreements will need to be anticipatory and consider these concerns and their associated uncertainties to be resilient to global change.

On inter-organizational trust, control and risk in transboundary fisheries governance

Inter-organizational collaboration is often considered essential to transboundary fishery governance, due, in part, to the high levels of task interdependence, the remote and often treacherous conditions, and the limited levels of information available to any policy actor on resource status. In the high seas, Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) are responsible for sustainably managing highly migratory and straddling fish stocks through the implementation of ecosystem-based approaches and ensuring adequate inter-jurisdictional cooperation. A central question facing RFMO governance is therefore how to structure and sustain inter-organizational transboundary collaboration under high uncertainty? This paper presents the case of the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization (NASCO), conceptualized as a strategic alliance between the bureaucratic organizations responsible for north Atlantic salmon fishery management in the member countries. We identify and explain how dimensions of trust, control, and perceived risk have structured the collaborative performance of the alliance. The application of an integrated trust-control-risk framework increases conceptual clarity for how, when and why alliance managers might seek to develop different forms of trust through different management control systems in ways that further multi-actor collaborative network performance. Future research needs are identified, including better understanding how managerial strategies and control mechanisms facilitate inter-organizational trust in transboundary governance settings and mitigate the perceived risks of working together.

Regional fisheries management: COVID-19 calendars and decision making

In 2020 the management of transboundary fisheries was severely impacted by the global COVID-19 pandemic. Most annual meetings of regional fisheries and marine management organizations were held virtually, postponed, or cancelled. Even though most organizations managed to meet virtually in 2020, many important decisions were postponed to 2021. Consequently, regional secretariats and delegations face a difficult calendar with substantial agendas and complex decision-making challenges. This commentary provides a brief overview of the virtual meeting processes that have been implemented by regional organisations in response to COVID-19 and provides a calendar of their plans for 2021.

Transboundary Fisheries Management

Abstract The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea created the exclusive economic zone regime, which makes more than 90 per cent of the world’s commercial fish stocks under the national jurisdiction of coastal States. The biological characteristics of fish demonstrate that the long-term sustainability of fisheries can only be achieved through cooperation and coordination among States, especially for the conservation of transboundary fish stocks. However, the ocean may have more than 1,500 transboundary fish stocks, only a limited number are subjected to effective cooperative management. This article provides an overview of the international legal framework on transboundary fisheries and China’s practice on shared stocks and distant water fisheries, and argues that current bilateral fisheries agreements are not sufficient enough to manage transboundary fish stocks and China still has much to do on regulating distant water fisheries.

United States Law and Policy for Sharing Transboundary, Highly Migratory, and Straddling Stock Fishery Resources

Abstract This article describes the United States approach to shared fisheries management highlighting efforts to manage tuna, halibut, salmon and other transboundary species. The article concludes with a recommendation for factoring climate change into U.S. standards for fisheries management.

Transboundary Fisheries Management

Abstract Malaysia’s unique geographical position, straddling across several seas within the Indian and Pacific Oceans, allows her to play an important role within the set of regional, sub-regional and bilateral arrangements for transboundary fisheries management in the Indo-Pacific theatre. This article first charts and then examines Malaysia’s participation within these fisheries management initiatives, beginning from the overarching international legal frameworks of unclos and the Fish Stocks Agreement, through the formal and informal regional and sub-regional fisheries management organizations, and finally, to bilateral arrangements for fisheries co-operation. Along the way, Malaysia’s policy, legal and institutional capacity, as well as her readiness to perform the role(s) required of her, in relation to regional, sub-regional, and bilateral fisheries management issues, are critically assessed.

Toward transparent governance of transboundary fisheries: The case of Pacific tuna transshipment

Transparency is one of the most influential themes in global environmental governance, however it has received limited treatment in transboundary fisheries. Transparency is essential to ensure officials are held accountable for the use of public resources and the achievement of environmental objectives, such as sustainable harvest. Here, we use a case study approach to assess transparency in transboundary fisheries governance, evaluating transshipment in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean, one of the world's most abundant and lucrative fisheries. Transshipment at sea occurs extensively in these fisheries, but often lacks strong monitoring and oversight, and has been associated with illegal or illicit activities. However, actors that rely heavily on transshipment at sea maintain that it can be a legitimate part of the fish commodity chain, under effective regulation. Here we assess whether at-sea transshipment in one of the most regulated and visible fisheries in the world is traceable, verifiable, and legal. Using AIS data and qualitative information from regional and sub-regional sources, we find that 68% of observed potential transshipments remain unsubstantiated even after triangulating with diverse data. We identify three primary areas for improving traceability and transparency of transshipment at sea in the WCPO, and suggest that transparency is ultimately hindered less by technical or administrative constraints, but by tensions between the actors and objectives within management institutions. Increased transparency, and a focus on the underlying dynamics that inhibit it, is necessary to ensure effective conservation and management of transboundary fish stocks, now and in the future.

Regional fisheries management: Virtual decision making in a pandemic

The global COVID-19 pandemic is impacting on the fisheries sector and posing significant challenges for the management of transboundary fisheries. Due to travel bans and border closures, regional organizations are not able to hold face-to-face meetings. This commentary provides a summary of the meeting procedures of Regional Fisheries Management Organizations and Regional Organizations during the global pandemic. Most organizations have transitioned to online platforms and are holding virtual meetings. These online meetings impose significant challenges concerning sustainable fisheries management, such as limited discussions and negotiations on important issues. Thus to continue their work effectively, these organizations need to develop new decision-making procedures that are more resilient in the upcoming future.

Resource allocation in transboundary tuna fisheries: A global analysis

Resource allocation is a fundamental and challenging component of common pool resource governance, particularly transboundary fisheries. We highlight the growing importance of allocation in fisheries governance, comparing approaches of the five tuna Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (tRFMOs). We find all tRFMOs except one have defined resources for allocation and outlined principles to guide allocation based on equity, citizenship, and legitimacy. However, all fall short of applying these principles in assigning fish resources. Most tRFMOs rely on historical catch or effort, while equity principles rarely determine dedicated rights. Further, the current system of annual negotiations reduces certainty, trust, and transparency, counteracting many benefits asserted by rights-based management proponents. We suggest one means of gaining traction may be to shift conversations from allocative rights toward weighting of principles already identified by most tRFMOs. Incorporating principles into resource allocation remains a major opportunity, with important implications for current and future access to fish.