Bailey Lab
About Equitable Tuna Governance
Tropical tuna species (skipjack, yellowfin, and bigeye) are transboundary fish species, meaning that they cross through several coastal state jurisdictions and the high seas.
Tropical tuna species (skipjack, yellowfin, and bigeye) are transboundary fish species, meaning that they cross through several coastal state jurisdictions and the high seas
About
Equitable Tuna Governance
Tropical tuna species are managed through international governance organizations called Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs). RFMO membership is open to any states who are interested in fishing within the jurisdiction of the relevant RFMO, creating a governance framework relying on consensus among states with varying interests and economic power. Our work focusses mainly on the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), but we have conducted past research on the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC). Research has looked across a range of topics including equitable resource allocation, barriers to equitable participation of coastal states, the legacy and contemporary impacts of colonialism, influence of stakeholders in RFMO governance, and the socioeconomic effects of fishery stock decline.​​​​​
Through the Sustainable Fisheries and Communities Trust (SFACT): we have engaged in projects including:
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Colonial legacies and contemporary governance (ongoing)
The Indian Ocean region has a legacy of colonialism that still has effects today, particularly through the involvement of distant-water fishing nations. PhD candidate Abdirahim Ibrahim Sheike is looking to understand the political ecology and legacy of colonialism and neocolonialism within the region. Particularly, he is looking to understand their influence on resource exploitation and environmental policies, and their effects on stock depletion.
The cost of doing nothing (ongoing)
Yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) has been evaluated as both overfished and subject to overfishing since 2015. Despite this, IOTC catch levels for yellowfin have increased in the last 10 years without any adequate management measures to rebuild the stock. We are looking to determine the economic cost of past mismanagement, while also analyzing the socioeconomic impacts of stock rebuilding scenarios. With this research, we hope to change policy and spur meaningful action towards rebuilding the yellowfin stock levels.
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Equitable governance in RFMOs
Historically, the majority of IOTC decisions have been made by, and for, large fishing nations with economic and political power, particularly distant water fishing nations. With the creation of the G16 group of coastal states, there has been increased participation of IOTC coastal states in decision-making processes. In his post-doc, Dr. Hussain Sinan looked to understand the legal, economic, political, and institutional barriers to meaningful participation of developing coastal states in IOTC processes.
Equitable resource allocation
Despite working on a suitable resource allocation regime for the last 10 years, IOTC states have not yet reached a consensus on the weighting of certain factors, with attribution and weight of historical catch being particularly contentious. During this time, Dr. Megan Bailey has worked to provide the Technical Committee on Allocation Criteria with information papers outlining the potential use of social indicators to improve the equity of this allocation regime.