A broad range of activities are conducted on the Great Barrier Reef (the Reef), including tourism, research, commercial and recreational fishing and traditional hunting. The users and stakeholders have varied motivations. Many Reef users are conservation-minded and follow the rules protecting the values of the Reef. However, some users are non-compliant. They damage the Reef and create inequity by gaining unfair advantages, such as taking fish from no-take areas. Understanding the factors that cause harmful behaviour is vital to implementing behaviourally effective compliance solutions. This research project sought to increase understanding of the behavioural and institutional drivers of non-compliance by two Reef user groups: recreational fishers and tourism operators.
The research intention was to combine evidence and behavioural theory to develop, trial and implement behaviourally effective solutions to improve compliance management at the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (Reef Authority). The project is a Doctor of Philosophy (Innovation), which differs from a standard PhD because it focuses on developing tangible innovations that improve an industry or profession. Consistent with this goal, the Reef Authority supported the project, providing substantial collaboration.
The research took a practical action-learning approach, using literature reviews, system mapping workshops and visualisations to display behavioural and compliance information, developing internal and external collaborations with researchers and colleagues, improving Reef Authority systems and developing new processes and procedures. Theoretical frameworks were blended with practical problem-solving and implementation to produce tangible outcomes.
This research has advanced the compliance program and environmental regulatory compliance more broadly by, 1) increasing understanding of Reef tourism operator and recreational fishing compliance by identifying the contributing factors to compliance and recreational fishing, 2) assembling the contributing factors to compliance and the linkages in visualisations, 3) identifying gaps and potential ways to improve compliance, considering the likely behavioural and other outcomes, and 4) selecting and implementing solutions at the Reef Authority to fill gaps and improve compliance management, including developing and implementing a recreational fishing offender characterisation tool and a self-audit process for tourism operators.