Fishery observers play a critical role in managing and conserving fish stocks in the United States and around the world. All too commonly, however, they are hindered in the performance of their duties by mistreatment aboard fishing vessels. Using data from several of the most important U.S. commercial fisheries, authors Jessica L. Dobson (former master’s student), Matthew R. Kahley (former master’s student and active U.S. Coast Guard officer), Anna M. Birkenbach, and Kimberly L. Oremus explore the extent of observer harassment, assault, interference, and obstruction (OHAIO). As the Frontiers in Marine Science article reports, 16% of 10,346 fishery violations reported in the Northeast and Alaska regions from 2014-2018 were observer-related, and over 80% of those involved OHAIO. The paper discusses barriers to the reporting and processing of OHAIO incidents and proposes steps to mitigate these issues, drawing on lessons learned from the data analysis and comparisons across the two fishing regions.
Figure 1: Summary of commercial fishery citations and fine guidance for the Alaska (AK) and Northeast (NE) regions.
