CIPA Director Kristi Govella has published a new article “Fishing, Human Security, and Transboundary Maritime Challenges in the Pacific Islands Region” in an edited volume published by Security in Context.

Abstract

This article examines how fishing is closely intertwined with human security considerations in the Pacific Islands region in terms of food security, economic security, personal security, community security, and environmental security. Key areas of vulnerability stem from the heavy reliance of these communities on the oceans and the nature of fish stocks as “common-pool resources,” which creates challenges of monitoring and sustainability. As many of the world’s waters increasingly suffer from overfishing and as climate change endangers ocean ecosystems worldwide, these dynamics are gradually impacting the people of the Pacific Islands. Moreover, intensifying threats in neighboring waters from illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and fisheries crimes such as human trafficking also pose risks to the human security of the region.

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