What Is Fisheries Conflict?
Fisheries conflict is a dispute, tension, or disagreement over the use of fisheries resources. Common fisheries conflicts include:
- disputes over boundaries and fishing ground locations
- illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing
- tensions between local and migrant or foreign fishers
- disagreements between interest groups over quotas meant to manage resource harvest.
The causes of fisheries conflicts are diverse, complex, and often indirect. Consequently, a collaborative and interdisciplinary approach to understanding – and thus preventing – fisheries conflict is needed. In 2017, Secure Fisheries launched the Fisheries Conflict Research Consortium to bring together academics, policy advisers, and NGOs. We are a group of researchers organized around the topic of fisheries conflict and dedicated to reducing it through policy interventions.
Our Work
- Establishing formal channels of communication between researchers
- Organizing research efforts to leverage partnerships and varied skills while avoiding overlap and competition
- Increasing understanding of the root causes and consequences of fisheries conflict around the world
- Raising awareness about fisheries conflict in relevant stakeholder communities
- Promoting interventions that reduce the likelihood and intensity of fisheries conflict and that are based on sound science and realistic policies
Click here to see a full list of fisheries conflict publications by consortium members.
Members
Our team includes biologists, economists, political scientists, policy advisors, legal experts, fisheries scientists, and more.