The Impacts of Enforcement on Inland Fisheries Sustainability

Inland fish and fisheries are valuable resources.  Ecologically, they maintain significant roles in the functioning of freshwater aquatic ecosystems.  Socially, they provide human consumers with a valuable nutrient source and sustain commercial and recreational industries.  To ensure their future sustainability, these inland fisheries are usually controlled by enforcement of various regulatory constraints such as catch or harvest quotas, gear restrictions, and seasonal closures.  However, management and regulatory agencies do not always practice enforcement equally or even at all in some locations, while other agencies fail to possess the personnel, capacity, and funds to adequately enforce sustainable fishing behaviors in the first place.  This lack of enforcement coupled with the increasingly high demand for inland fisheries resources have attributed to their overexploitation and depletion.  Though the improper use or lack of enforcement is a common problem facing many inland fisheries, the severity of the problem differs greatly based upon the location in question and the local governance structure.  The purpose of this presentation is to acknowledge the importance of effective enforcement and regulatory policies in the long-term sustainability of inland fisheries, and to highlight particular fisheries and the challenges they face in establishing and carrying out enforcement strategies.