When bad gets worse: corruption and fisheries

Corruption risks in fisheries affect marine environments, global food security, national economies and local livelihoods in coastal communities. Undermining management goals and eroding local incentives for responsible resource stewardship, corrupt fisheries practices are difficult to address. A raft of measures for improving oversight and management control have been proposed, but gaps in their implementation and loopholes in even the best monitoring systems mean it is difficult to address all types of corruption threatening fish stocks. Solutions may lie in strengthening fisher participation in management to improve compliance and legitimacy at local levels. Keywords: Marine fisheries, corruption, resource stewardship, local livelihoods, commodity chains, monitoring systems