The US does not need to lead the world, but it does need to act as a good citizen. This requires at a minimum re-engaging with the Paris Agreement and supporting the WHO. Whereas there are 300 million Americans and 7 billion potential victims of a global pandemic and climate change, there is only one earth that we all must share.
Independent onboard monitoring of fishing activities is important in an era of marine animal overexploitation and declining fish populations. Fisheries observers have traditionally filled this role to varying capacities. Their work is critical to fisheries managers because observers collect data on, for example, catch composition, discard and by-catch policy compliance, and transshipment activities – data that would otherwise be unreliable if collected from other sources. However, fisheries observers have been subject to human rights and safety violations, including intimidation and assault, and many observers have even disappeared from their vessel assignments. In some cases, remote electronic monitoring (REM) has been deployed to complement or substitute for human observers. This study is the first comparison of existing at-sea compliance monitoring and observer programs for 17 Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs), the main institutions that currently exist to manage and conserve fish on the high seas or straddling high seas boundaries. Currently only three RFMOs mandate 100% observer coverage on fishing vessels, and no RFMOs mandate 100% at-sea monitoring coverage using REM. Moreover, no RFMOs mandate full transparency of either human observer or REM data. In addition, no RFMOs include regulations to sufficiently ensure the protection of fisheries observer rights and safety, and only four RFMOs mandate a specific process in the event that an observer disappears or dies. RFMOs are well positioned to mandate comprehensive, independent, and transparent monitoring coverage onboard fishing vessels by utilizing a complementary approach of human observers and REM. This would help ensure better management of fisheries as well as better protection of marine ecosystems and human rights at sea.
Jennifer Jacquet and Sunandan Chakraborty’s project at NYU was selected as one of 4 Grand Prize Winnersin the Wildlife Crime Tech Challenge, a USAID initiative that is being implemented in partnership with the National Geographic Society, the Smithsonian Institution, and TRAFFIC.
Article with Dale Jamieson on the potential for shame to put downward pressure on emissions in Nature Climate Change.
It becomes more difficult not to fulfill one’s commitments if others are fulfilling theirs, and easier to avoid one’s commitments if others are avoiding theirs.
The anthropocebo effect: a psychological condition that exacerbates human-induced damage — a certain pessimism about humanity that leads us to accept humans as a geologic force and destruction as inevitable.
Jennifer Jacquet 