What determines fishers’ knowledge of and attitudes towards regulations? A case study from the Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand

Alyssa S. Thomas, Taciano L. Milfont and Michael C. Gavin

Marine Policy, 2015, vol. 51, issue C, 547-554

Abstract: Fisher attitudes and the factors that shape them are still poorly understood, especially in recreational fisheries, despite their potential influence on compliance behaviour. In addition to the standard size and daily limits common in recreational fisheries, recreational fishers of the blue cod fishery in New Zealand’s Marlborough Sounds are presented with two other unique restrictions. Blue cod must not be filleted while at sea and any fish caught elsewhere must still meet the Marlborough Sounds’ size and daily limits if transported through this area. An intercept survey explored fishers’ knowledge of and attitudes towards these two regulations in addition to potential influences on their satisfaction with the regulations. Results showed that while overall fishers are dissatisfied with the current regulations, both knowledge and attitudes differed between the specific rules examined. Furthermore, the most experienced and locally resident fishers displayed higher levels of knowledge but more negative attitudes towards regulations. Regulation influence on fishing habits and satisfaction with the fishing also differed between groups. A greater identification of these factors could assist fisheries management in increasing fisher satisfaction with regulations but also poses challenges in implementing rules that the majority of fishers will accept.

Keywords: Attitudes; Experience and residency influence; Fishery management; Recreational fishing; Regulation knowledge (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X14002577
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:marpol:v:51:y:2015:i:c:p:547-554

DOI: 10.1016/j.marpol.2014.09.024

Access Statistics for this article

Marine Policy is currently edited by Eddie Brown

More articles in Marine Policy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().