Browsing by Author "Carmine, Gabrielle"
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Item Open Access Evaluating Compliance and Enforcement Mechanisms of Regional Fishery Management Organizations(2022-04-22) Barkley, CardenEstablished by international agreements or treaties, Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) manage fisheries on the high seas, or ocean areas beyond national jurisdiction. Countries interested in joining an RFMO for access to highly migratory species such as tuna are subject to legally binding conservation management measures (CMMs) and convention mandates created by the organization. Historically, the overall effectiveness of RFMOs for protecting valuable high seas fisheries and their ecosystems has been called into question and there has been a recent push from consumers for increased seafood traceability. This project critically evaluates compliance and enforcement of CMMs and is a component of a larger comprehensive performance review of the current seventeen global RFMOs by an interdisciplinary team of researchers at Duke, NYU, and the Stockholm Resilience Centre led by Duke Marine Lab PhD student Gabrielle Carmine. In this evaluation, RFMOs were scored using a set of ten different criteria to assess existing compliance mechanisms and understand existing levels of transparency within high seas fisheries management.Item Open Access Evaluating Spatial Management on the High Seas: A Performance Review of Fisheries Closures and Marine Protected Areas(2022-04-22) Tuohy, ChelseaAs the United Nations continues to negotiate a legally binding treaty for the conservation of biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction, many argue that a governance gap will be created if species managed by regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) and non-target species impacted by fisheries are left unaccounted for. RFMOs are currently unlikely to be affected or held to a higher standard in the new treaty as not to “undermine current legal and regulatory frameworks”. However, the last comprehensive assessment RFMOs, completed in 2010 by Sarika Cullis-Suzuki and Daniel Pauley, concluded that RFMOs were failing to manage high seas fisheries. This review provides an updated performance assessment of how well RFMOs manage fish stocks in areas beyond national jurisdiction through closures and protected areas, a criterion that was not thoroughly reviewed in 2010 due to spatial management not being part of the requirements of RFMOs at the time. The spatial management review is a component of a more extensive comprehensive performance review of the seventeen RFMOs by a team of researchers at Duke University, NYU, and the Stockholm Resilience Centre led by Duke Marine Lab Ph.D. student Gabrielle Carmine. Furthermore, this review highlights vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs) as a case study to provide insight into the management regimes and decision-making processes of RFMOs, given that bottom fishing organizations scored highest in the spatial management review.Item Open Access Evaluating the Impact of Sea-Level Rise on Transportation in Red Hook, New York(2022-04-20) Morrison, MargaretCoastal communities across the United States are increasingly at risk of flooding due to rising sea levels. Sea-level rise will increase the frequency and severity of recurrent tidal flooding, or “nuisance” flooding, as well as flooding resulting from coastal storms. Recurrent tidal and coastal flooding can damage the infrastructure that coastal communities rely on, particularly the transportation infrastructure, which serves as a conduit for critical goods and services. This study uses geospatial tools to identify direct and indirect impacts of recurrent tidal and coastal flooding on the transportation infrastructure in New York City, focusing on a particularly vulnerable neighborhood in Southwest Brooklyn; Red Hook. This analysis identifies roads, bus routes, and subway stations in Red Hook that are vulnerable to flooding under three sea-level rise scenarios: 2 feet (2050s), 4 feet (2080s), and 6 feet (2100s). This study also models indirect impacts of flooding, such as transportation delays, that will impact Red Hook residents. The study concludes with recommendations to city managers and local decision-makers to improve the resiliency of the transportation infrastructure in New York City and the resiliency of the Red Hook community.Item Open Access Kiribati’s Tuna Purse Seine Fishery, a Case for Comprehensive Vessel Identity Information(2024-04-25) Dubniczki, HaydenIllegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing presents a major barrier to achieving the sustainable management of fisheries globally. Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs), the principal forum for collaboration between coastal and fishing States, play a key role in addressing IUU fishing. Authorized vessel lists contain information about vessels permitted to fish in RFMO areas and are used to control overfishing. When vessel identity information from these lists is combined with vessel position data, fishing activity can be linked to individual vessels and their owners, enabling the tracking of IUU fishing and informing fisheries management. However, recent scholarship has revealed inaccuracies of vessel identity information provided in RFMO registries (Carmine et al 2020). To demonstrate the value of robust vessel identity information, I manually identified the beneficial owners/corporate actors of fishing vessels in Kiribati’s tuna purse seine fishery in 2020 and connected these companies to fishing activity. I also summarized vessels’ certification status under the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) ecolabeling scheme, as well as links to reported fisheries observer deaths. This enabled the comparison of the behavior of beneficial owners/corporate actors at sea with corporate messaging (communicated via marketing and/or association with the MSC), as well as the examination of potential risk factors for suspicious activity (i.e., the prevalence of vessels owned by nations aside from the flag State, Chinese-flagged vessels, and flags from countries with poor control of corruption) (Selig et al 2022). The results of this project suggest that 145 tuna purse seine vessels conducted ~51,125 fishing hours in Kiribati’s EEZ in 2020, accounting for 8.87% of global tuna purse seine effort in 2020. In ~75% of cases, the registered owner of a vessel did not match the identified beneficial owner or corporate actor. Vessels listed under four unique MSC certificates accounted for 93.77% of 2020 annual fishing effort. Four vessels listed under MSC certificate MSC-F-31362 were linked to apparent fishing in the closed Phoenix Islands Protected Area in 2020. Four vessels listed under MSC certificate MSC-F-31362 were linked to four fisheries observer deaths/disappearances occurring between 2016 and 2020. I recommend that the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) require beneficial owners to be listed as registered owners in the WCPFC Record of Fishing Vessels (RFV), and assess the overall accuracy of vessel ownership information in the RFV. Future studies should investigate the extent of fisheries-related crimes in MSC-certified fisheries, with beneficial ownership information included.Item Open Access Spatial Opportunities for High Seas Conservation Under the U.N. Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Treaty(2024-04-25) Barbaro, AllisonAfter 21 years, the United Nations adopted the Agreement under UNCLOS on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction, or BBNJ Agreement, in 2023 to provide a legal framework for high seas conservation, as many species are in decline. However, Article V states the agreement will be “applied in a manner that does not undermine” relevant legal bodies, raising concerns for how this long-awaited treaty will reach targets for ocean conservation among contentious international groups. This study identifies the areas of the high seas with the least and largest number of overlapping relevant international bodies (potential low/high conflict). Results indicate a complex patchwork of governance, with the least governed areas at only 0.15% of the high seas. This emphasizes the need for improved cooperation among these institutions for future high seas conservation.