Browsing by Author "Burgener, Markus"

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    Illegal and unreported fishing on abalone—Quantifying the extent using a fully integrated assessment model
    (Elsevier, 2011) Plagányi, Éva E; Butterworth, Doug S; Burgener, Markus
    Illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing is a major problem in many of the world's fisheries. The stocks most severely impacted centre on those characterised by high economic value, such as abalone, as well as long lived and slow growing species such as Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides). Effective management of these stocks as well as assessment of the impacts of IUU fishing on the resources is impeded by the technical difficulties associated with determining the magnitude of the IUU catches. The South African abalone Haliotis midae fishery rates as an extreme example of extraordinarily high levels of illegal and unreported (IU) catch. To assess the level and trends in IU catches, we used a combination of approaches that included collation of confiscation records from law enforcement, development of a novel index (the confiscations per unit policing effort—CPUPE), estimation of illegal catches using a spatial and age-structured assessment model, and cross-checking of model outputs through comparison with trade data on abalone imports in destination countries. The model-predicted 2008 IU estimate was 860 tonnes, more than 10 times the total allowable catch (TAC) for that year, and implied that, on average, 14% of all IU catches are confiscated. Associated management responses included the listing of H. midae on Appendix III of CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), and a temporary closure of the commercial fishery. We summarise both technical and management lessons to be learnt from this integrated approach to assess and verify the magnitude of IU fishing.
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    The prevalence of documentation discrepancies in CITES (Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) trade data for Appendix I and II species exported out of Africa between the years 2003 and 2012
    (2015) Russo, Alexandra; Hoffman, Timm; Burgener, Markus
    The international trade in wildlife products is an extremely profitable industry, and is linked to many environmental, social, economic and political problems. The Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is a non-self-executing multilateral treaty providing a framework for the international trade in wild animals and plants. Unfortunately, CITES wildlife trade data is not always accurate. Export and import trade records between nations rarely align and frequently contain data discrepancies. This study analyzed CITES wildlife trade records for Appendix I and II species exported out of Africa between the years 2003 to 2012 to determine the frequency and types of discrepancies, and to identify nations and species particularly prone to record discrepancies. This study also attempted to profile countries with high and low documentation discrepancy rates based on annual precipitation, proportion of land covered by forest, length of coastline, GEF Benefits Index for Biodiversity, proportion of country designated as protected area, proportion of roads that are paved, number of international airplane departures, national population size, life expectancy, Gini Index, Gross Domestic Product, Mo Ibrahim Index of African Governance and unemployment rate.
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    Review of the causes of the rise of the illegal South African abalone fishery and consequent closure of the rights-based fishery
    (Elsevier, 2011) Raemaekers, Serge; Hauck, Maria; Burgener, Markus; Mackenzie, Angus; Maharaj, Genevieve; Plagányi, Éva E; Britz, Peter J
    The rise of organised illegal fishing and trade in abalone from the late 1990s destabilised South Africa’s historically stable, quota-managed fishery, culminating in its closure in 2008. The development of the fishery is described in a historical context, including the evolution of South Africa’s science-based abalone fishery management system. The diverse suite of responses deployed to combat illegal fishing and the black market trade in abalone are reviewed, including;- fishery reform to expand rights to a greater number of previously disadvantaged fishers, a territorial user rights fishery (TURF) system, special compliance operations and courts, the CITES listing of abalone, and the serial reduction in the TAC, culminating in the controversial and legally contested closure of the fishery. The main causes of the rise of the illegal fishery are diagnosed as 1) the massive increase in the abalone price that occurred in the 1990s triggering an abalone fishing “gold-rush” and 2) the failure of the post-Apartheid fishery reform process to accommodate many traditional fishers in a legal fishing rights framework resulting in them operating outside the formal fishery management system. By contextualising the abalone fishery as a complex system, embedded in South Africa’s socio-political setting, we show how the resource focussed fishery management system did not have the capacity to incorporate the powerful social, political and economic drivers determining fisher behaviour. We conclude with the need to revisit South Africa’s abalone fishery management paradigm, and argue that a more integrated governance approach is required that takes into account the biological, socio-political and economic factors determining the fishery activities.