Árangur aðgerða til að berjast gegn ólöglegum og óábyrgum (IUU) fiskveiðum í Líberíu

Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing continues to attract global attention due to its ability to undermine the development of coastal nations, degrade the marine ecosystems and destabilize the ability of the environment to recover from exploitations. Developing nations, especially in Africa, are the most vulnerable due the lack of adequate management tools and mechanisms to avert and discourage IUU fishing. The devastation caused by IUU fishing in this part of the world is most alarming due to the dependency rate of coastal nations to fisheries for livelihood and nutrition intake. Liberia being a developing coastal nation continues to be affected by varying forms of IUU fishing. Majority of the population live on the coast and rely heavily on these resources, especially as fish provide a cheaper means for animal protein. This study provides an assessment of the effectiveness of institutionalized structures employed combat IUU fishing. The study investigates the effectiveness of policies to demarcate zones for fishing by vessel types by comparing the catch size of Artisanal and industrial fishing before and after the structures and policies went into effect. The data shows a huge difference in catch size before 2010, favoring the industrial fishers. After 2010, the advantage is reversed and there was a spike in artisanal catch and a steep decline in the industrial fishing. This study also provides an MSY-catch analysis to determine by how much IUU affects the stock size. It is seen that while the revenue generation by the fisheries sector is indeed affected by IUU fishing, the proportion of catch to stock is extremely low and has been near constant for almost two decades, and allows for the conclusion that increase in effort, albeit to an acceptable amount, is key to increasing the contribution of the fisheries sector to the national GDP of Liberia. A review of the COBECOS project is discussed and possible applications of the model to Liberia is discussed and recommended