Fisheries for the Future: How Can Law Enforcement Help Get Us There?

Effective fisheries law enforcement seeks to promote reasonably compliant behaviour by increasing public and/or industry awareness of the risks associated with non-compliance and by increasing voluntary compliance to reduce those risks. A discussion about the future of fisheries enforcement first requires an examination of how success is measured, what type(s) of information or intelligence promotes positive enforcement action, and how the roles and responsibilities of conservation officers may be influenced by these determinations. Advances in technologies, too, hold great potential to steer the direction of the future of fisheries enforcement. This point becomes particularly relevant as resources dedicated to enforcement become increasingly limited and the supply of, and demand for, fishery resources continually increases thereby enhancing the incentive to act outside of the law. Case studies will be used to illustrate how technology has furthered enforcement efforts as well as how the lack of technology has hindered enforcement capabilities. In this climate of “do more with less,” the future of fisheries enforcement will indeed require a concerted effort to develop and use new technologies; however, this must be done with the recognition that technology is an enforcement tool and not a replacement for trained, dedicated officers in the field.