Bertarelli-Annual-Report-2024-LR - Flipbook - Page 20
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Bertarelli Foundation
© The Ocean Agency, Ocean Image Bank
Human Dimensions of
Illegal, Unregulated and
Unreported Fishing
Lead Investigator: Dr. Ana Nuno, Nova University,
Dr. Asha de Vos, Oceanswell
This team combines social scientists with management
and policy experts to understand what determines
whether people comply with fisheries and protected area
legislation or not – and if not, what deterrents are likely to
be most effective in stopping them. Working across the
Chagos Archipelago, Sri Lanka, and India, the team uses a
range of tools to understand behaviour and the social and
economic drivers for rule breaking and illegal resource use.
The team has been able to identify a clear spike in illegal
fishing behaviour linked directly to the Covid-19 pandemic
when enforcement efforts dipped in the Chagos MPA.
The team completed data collection to assess a) fishers’
awareness and perceived effectiveness of national
regulations regarding shark fisheries; and b) barriers and
opportunities to uptake Vessel Monitoring and Automatic
Identification Systems. This included 273 questionnaires,
six focus groups discussions and five key informant
interviews with multiday boat fishers, skippers and boat
owners in Sri Lanka. A further set of semi-structured
interviews were completed with 93 consumers, traders
and sellers in Kerala (India) with the objectives of
understanding underlying motivations for consumption
of shark meat amongst consumers and identifying the
importance of broader socio-economic factors such as
availability and price of shark meat in driving
consumption patterns.
© Krisztian Tabori
A five-day residential course on “Social Science for
Conservationists” was held in February 2023 in Negombo,
Sri Lanka. Fifteen participants took part in the course that
was delivered by facilitators from Ocean University, NOVA
University Lisbon, Ashoka University, Zoological Society of
London, and the hosts Oceanswell.
