New research sheds light on why a surprising amount of fishers always follow fishing rules, even when enforcement is unlikely and breaking the rules offers a financial reward.
What’s more, their choice to follow rules may be even more impactful than they realise, with the findings suggesting new ways of protecting the Great Barrier Reef and other marine parks.
James Cook University PhD candidate Stuart Jones, who was the lead author of the study, said while the number of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) around the world is increasing, many are often undermined by frequent illegal fishing.
“In developing economies this can be driven by economic necessity, but it’s still an issue in developed economies such as Australia,” Mr Jones said.
Researchers studied 155 anglers playing a compliance game that simulated fishing in an MPA within the Great Barrier Reef.
“People could choose between fishing legally in zones where fishing was allowed, or illegally inside the no-fishing protected area. Patrols were deliberately infrequent, with participants facing less than a 10% chance of detection, while the game offered real monetary incentives for illegal fishing,” Mr Jones said.
Nearly 40% of participants never fished illegally, despite the cash on offer. Though only a minority of participants, these anglers are significant because they establish important social norms which drive compliance in the rest of the population.
“Compliance in a wide range of everyday social dilemmas, for instance returning shopping trolleys, is often attributed to social norms. Most people are socialised to return shopping trolleys because they see other people returning them,” Mr Jones said.
“Experimental research suggests that when around 25% of people in a group commit fully to a particular behaviour, the rest of the group tends to follow. The nearly 40% of fishers who always obeyed the rules is well above that.”
The study examined why these fishers consistently complied with MPA rules, and found their motivations were mostly intrinsic, including personal norms, conservation and stewardship values and believing their care for the Great Barrier Reef could make a difference.
“From a management perspective, this is an incredibly useful finding” co-author Dr Brock Bergseth said.
“Park managers can emphasise and celebrate the prevalence of these individuals, who serve to tip the rest of the population into a state where following the rules is the norm rather than the exception.
“This type of approach harnesses social influence to actively foster a culture where people voluntarily follow and support the rules, rather than relying solely on increased patrols or penalties,” Dr Bergseth said.
Co-author Josh Cinner, from the Thriving Oceans Research Hub at the University of Sydney and adjunct Professor at JCU said voluntary compliance can also be bolstered by fostering a sense of stewardship and highlighting the high prevalence of the positive environmental norms that already exist.
“The challenge for environmental managers is to find ways to reinforce the personal values and social norms that make compliance more likely, even when nobody is watching,” he said.
Link to paper here.
