Risky facilities: Analysis of illegal recreational fishing in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, Australia

Weekers, Damian; Zahnow, Renee

doi:10.1177/0004865818804021

Cited by 18 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 57 publications

(82 reference statements)

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“…Studies of distance decay indicated that people generally organise activities, including criminal activities, to minimise travel time (Rengert, Piquero, & Jones, ; Weekers, Zahnow, & Mazerolle, ). Studies examining spatial patterns in infringement in NTAs identified that most offenders live locally and indicated that the greater levels of infringement occur in NTAs that are more accessible (Weekers & Zahnow, ; Weekers et al, ). For the study sites examined, Little Broughton Island was substantially closer to boating facilities (18 km to nearest formed boat ramp) than Seal Rocks (36 km), and the island also has fishing huts and camping facilities providing close access to the NTA.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, community adoption of NTAs, due to their perceived benefits, plays a substantial role in voluntary compliance (Arias & Sutton, ). Levels of illegal fishing activity vary spatially, with reduced compliance generally occurring in areas that are more accessible and attractive to offenders (Advani, Rix, Aherne, Alwany, & Bailey, ; Weekers & Zahnow, ), and in areas with ineffective enforcement (Agnew et al, ; Hønneland, ; Petrossian, ). In addition, temporal factors can influence levels of illegal fishing activity (Davis, Russ, Williamson, & Evans, ), with studies showing differences in compliance among months (Smallwood, Beckley, & Moore, ), and among different periods of the year (Arias, Pressey, Jones, Álvarez‐Romero, & Cinner, ; Bergseth, Williamson, Russ, Sutton, & Cinner, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Predictive modelling of illegal fishing in no‐take marine protected areas

Davis

Harasti

2020

Fisheries Management Eco

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Illegal fishing is an acknowledged problem within no‐take areas (NTAs), which are frequently used as a marine conservation management tool. While gathering data on illegal fishing is difficult, it is necessary, as these data enable increased efficiency of compliance patrols, where resources are inherently limited. In particular, information about short‐term temporal variations in illegal fishing in NTAs is needed to guide management and compliance efforts. To address this knowledge gap, daily variations in illegal fishing effort were examined using surveillance cameras at two sites in New South Wales, Australia. Generalised linear modelling (GLM) identified that illegal fishing was significantly greater on non‐working days and during periods with no rain, light winds and slight seas. The GLM developed provided useful predictions of illegal activity in both the NTA used to build the model and in a second nearby NTA. The study demonstrated that illegal fishing was principally concentrated on days with good boating conditions and was greater at the study site closer to boat launching facilities. These insights will assist with future targeting of enforcement, community outreach and management efforts, which should focus on days and sites with an increased likelihood of illegal fishing.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predictive modelling of illegal fishing in no‐take marine protected areas

Davis

Harasti

2020

Fisheries Management Eco

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“…3). The combined effects of attractiveness, accessibility and fishing capacity in driving fishing pressure generally (Daw 2008;Castro-sanguino et al 2017;Thiault et al 2017;Metcalfe et al 2017;Harborne et al 2018), and poaching risk specifically (Diogo et al 2016;Weekers & Zahnow 2018) have been showed elsewhere. However, the fact that poaching-specific predictors (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…travel costs and travel time), opportunism (e.g. along MPA boundaries), guardianship effectiveness, and the perceived likelihood and consequence of getting caught (Arias et al 2014;Weekers & Zahnow 2018;Weekers et al 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Predictors used to predict poaching in no-take zones of the Cairns Management Area.All these predictors were generated at a spatial resolution of 50m, and showed a Pearson correlation coefficient lower than |0.51| and a Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) lower than 1.6.Using this set of predictors, we were able to capture some previously unexplored potential risk factors in the GBRMP, although we acknowledge that poaching risk can have other dimensions such as individual determinants owned by offenders, weather, or time of the day/week/year(Bergseth & Roscher 2017;Oyanedel et al 2018;Weekers & Zahnow 2018; 2019) that we were not able to incorporate here.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Predicting poaching risk in marine protected areas for improved patrol efficiency

Thiault

Weekers

Curnock

et al. 2020

Journal of Environmental Management

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Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are effective resource management and conservation measures, but their effectiveness is often hindered by non-compliant activities such as poaching. Better predicting poaching risk and spatial patterns is crucial for efficient law enforcement and to ensure MPAs are delivering the outcomes they were established for. Here, we predicted poaching risk from recreational fishers within fully protected MPAs of Australia's Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP). Combining patrol effort data, observed distribution of reported incidents, and geographically-referenced predictor variables, we modeled the occurrence probability of poaching incidents using boosted regression trees and mapped poaching risk at fine-scale. Our findings (i) reinforce the key role of fishing attractiveness, accessibility and capacity in shaping the spatial patterns of illegal recreational fishing; (ii) identify key interactions among XXX and tipping points beyond which poaching is more likely to occur; and (iii) highlight gaps in patrol effort that could be filled for improved resource allocation. The methods developed through this study provide a novel approach to quantify the relative influence of multiple interacting factors in shaping poaching occurrence, and hold promises for replication across a broad range of marine or terrestrial settings.

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Partially protected areas as a management tool on inshore reefs

Hall

Cameron

Kingsford

2021

Rev Fish Biol Fisheries

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Inshore marine seascapes support a diversity of interconnected habitats and are an important focus for biodiversity conservation. This study examines the importance of habitat attributes to fish assemblages across a mosaic of inshore habitats: coral reefs, rocky reefs, macroalgae beds, and sand/rubble beds. Fishes and benthic habitats were surveyed at thirty four sites around continental islands of the central Great Barrier Reef using Baited Remote Underwater Video Stations (BRUVS). Species richness was influenced foremost by habitat type, and also by structural complexity within habitat types. The most speciose assemblages occurred in coral and rocky reef habitats with high structural complexity, provided by the presence of coral bommies/overhangs, boulders, and rock crevices. However, macroalgae and sand/ rubble beds also supported unique species, and so contributed to the overall richness of fish assemblages in the seascape. Most trophic groups had positive associations with complexity, which was the most important predictor for abundance of piscivorous fishes and mobile planktivores. There was significant differentiation of fish assemblages among habitats, with the notable exception of coral and rocky reefs. Species assemblages overlapped substantially between coral and rocky reefs, which had 60% common species, despite coral cover being lower on rocky reefs. This suggests that, for many species, rocky and coral substrates can provide equivalent habitat structure, emphasizing the importance of complexity in providing habitat refuges, and highlighting the contribution of rocky reefs to habitat provision within tropical seascapes. Our results support an emerging recognition of the collective value of habitat mosaics in inshore marine ecosystems.

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Risky facilities: Analysis of illegal recreational fishing in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, Australia

Cited by 18 publications

References 57 publications

Predictive modelling of illegal fishing in no‐take marine protected areas

Predictive modelling of illegal fishing in no‐take marine protected areas

Predicting poaching risk in marine protected areas for improved patrol efficiency

Partially protected areas as a management tool on inshore reefs

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