Important Factors Influencing Rule Compliance in Fisheries Lessons from Danish Fisheries

ab Abstract. This paper presents the results of a research project, which has focused on Danish fishers' acceptance of imposed fisheries regulations and their respect for the management system. The analytical framework developed by Raakjaer Nielsen (1998) and Raakjaer Nielsen and Vedsmand (1999) has been used. The research has focused on three Danish fisheries: the cod fishery in the Baltic Sea, the demersal and Nephrops fishery in Kattegat and the fishery for non-human consumption species in the North Sea. The research is based on interviews with 56 fishers and a mail survey covering all vessels in the three selected fisheries. The following factors are concluded to have a major impact on rule compliance in fisheries: 1) the economic gains to be obtained; 2) the risk of being detected and the severity of the sanction; 3) the compatibility between the content of the regul ation and the fishing patterns and practise; 4) regulation leads towards stock conservation; 5) norms, in particular the behaviour of other fishers and the moral of the individual fisher. In addition there are some indication, that co-management is important fo r rule compliance.

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