Research Project
Researchers: Emma Flukes (Point of contact) , Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (Associated with)
Full description This record provides an overview of the NESP Marine and Coastal Hub project "Evaluation of recreational fishing behaviour, use, values and motivations that relate to compliance". No data outputs were generated by this project.
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Recreational fishing is an important leisure activity in Australia that delivers important social and economic benefits to the community. As the largest and most widely dispersed natural resource-based recreational activity in the country, it is subject to management strategies including bag limits, quotas, and no-take zones. Given the prohibitive cost of deploying compliance officers to monitor Australia’s vast marine estate, strategies are needed to encourage voluntary compliance from fishers.
This project explored behavioural interventions to promote self-compliance among recreational fishers, focusing on no-take zones within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and two Commonwealth parks off Western Australia (Geographe and Two Rocks). The research distributed more than 800 online surveys, followed up by focus groups and analysis to examine how demographics, motivations and fishing patterns influence fishers' intentions to comply with zoning rules.
Survey insights were used to pilot a new targeted approach to awareness campaigns. Using behavioural segmentation, the project tailored messaging to specific audience types and tested these via GBRMPA social media channels. The project also examined perceptions of compliance visibility and found fishers were more likely to comply when uniformed officers were present and engaged directly at ramps or on water.
The project outcomes provide a foundation for evidence-based behavioural interventions and targeted communication campaigns. It delivers a proof of concept for scalable, audience-specific behaviour change approaches that can be refined, implemented, and evaluated in future research.
Outputs
• Fact sheet - characterising recreational fishing population [written]
• Final project report [written]
Lineage Maintenance and Update Frequency: asNeeded
Notes
Credit
This project is funded by the Australian Government Department of Climate Change, the Environment, Energy & Water (DCCEEW) through the NESP Marine and Coastal Hub. In addition to NESP (DCCEEW) funding, this project is matched by an equivalent amount of in-kind support and co-investment from project partners and collaborators.
Notes
Purpose
To inform the use of behavioural change interventions to support regulation compliance of recreational fishers and boaters.
Data time period: 2022-06-01 to 2023-12-31
Mahony T, Adams VM, Navarro M, Jarvis D, Gelves-Gomez F, Stoeckl N, Chuah SH (2023) We like to fish: characterising the recreational fishing population and designing messages to improve compliance. Report to the National Environmental Science Program and to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. University of Tasmania. (Final Project Report)
Mahony T, Adams VM, Navarro M, Jarvis D, Gelves-Gomez F, Stoeckl N, Chuah SH (2023) We like to fish: characterising the recreational fishing population and designing messages to improve compliance – executive summary. Report to the National Environmental Science Program and to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. University of Tasmania. (Fact sheet (executive summary))
url :
https://www.nespmarinecoastal.edu.au/publication/project-2-5-final-report-executive-summary/
(Project page on NESP Marine and Coastal Hub website)
url :
https://www.nespmarinecoastal.edu.au/project-2-5/
(Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: NESP MaC Hub website)
url :
https://www.dcceew.gov.au/science-research/nesp/hub-marine-coastal
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- DOI : 10.71676/D3A67987
- global : e9713a79-ced9-4687-88ff-8753b7f8abf3