Illegal land use change assessment using GIS and remote sensing to support sustainable land management strategies in Taiwan

Land use is changing at accelerated rates in Taiwan, and illegal land use change practices (ILP) are regularly observed within conservation areas. For this reason, we map high-potential areas of ILP within the Soil and water conservation zone (SWCZ) as an aid for effective land management and conducted an exploratory analysis of explanatory variables to evaluate their variability within ILP hot spots. We used variables relevant to hot spots to develop a logistic regression model and identified seven statistically significant variables. We re-applied the logistic regression approach to produce spatially explicit predictions of ILP. High probability areas are distributed along the coastal regions, covering 26% of the SWCZ, and their major drivers are related to accessibility and topography. The results from this research provide relevant information on the major drivers of ILP and high-potential areas, which can support officials in monitoring efforts for better planning and governance within the SWCZ.     

云南省北部地区矿产资源违法开采遥感动态监测研究

矿产资源违法开采不仅造成资源的浪费,还破坏矿山地质环境,不利于生态环境的保护。该文基于高分辨率卫星遥感影像,借助GIS空间数据处理平台,对云南省北部地区2011—2015年矿产资源违法开采活动进行了遥感监测,通过野外实地核查,得出了5年内矿产资源违法开采遥感动态监测结果,分析了违法图斑的时空变化趋势和原因,并提出相应的对策和建议。对维护矿业秩序,保护环境,促进矿产资源的可持续开发利用起到重要的作用,同时也为云南省国土部门执法监管提供数据支撑和决策依据。     

Breaking Basel: The elements of the Basel Convention and its application to toxic ships

Developing nations seeking to apply the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements in Hazardous Wastes to prevent toxic ships from entering their waters for shipbreaking are faced with legal uncertainty. This paper responds to that uncertainty by adopting a definition of the offence of illegal traffic in end-of-life ships, and further proposing evidentiary burdens and potential sources of proof for that offence. While a shipowner's intention to scrap a ship for its value in steel was previously difficult to prove, recent market analysis of the shipbreaking industry provides potential proof sufficient to halt the importation of a toxic ship.     

Routes to illegal residence: A case study of immigration detainees in the United Kingdom

This paper investigates the various ways in which migrants to the United Kingdom become illegally resident. Drawing on findings from a pilot study of undocumented migrants held in detention centres in the United Kingdom, it explores why respondents had chosen to come to the United Kingdom, how they came, and how they ended up residing illegally. In contrast to common assumptions about ‘illegal immigrants’, the present study reveals the diversity of paths into illegal residence, and stresses the importance of perceived safety, both from ‘persecution’ and more generalised violence, as well as the ease of finding work in a strong economy. The sample included both those who had knowingly come to the United Kingdom to live and work illegally, and those who had become illegal during their stay.     

International trade law compatibility of market-related measures to combat illegal,unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing

Measures to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing increasingly seek to constrain access to markets. These measures include enhanced seafood traceability and catch documentation schemes, the blocking of port access and landings, the identification and assessment of vessels engaged in IUU fishing and the prohibition on imports, transhipments or trade of fish products. It is important that such measures are in accordance with international law, including the agreements of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). This article evaluates a range of market-related measures for compatibility with international trade law, including the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade. The law requires measures to be non-discriminatory and, for certain technical regulations, not more trade-restrictive than necessary to achieve a legitimate objective. However, there are exceptions to these rules, including for measures relating to the conservation of exhaustible natural resources or for measures necessary for the protection of animal life or health, public morals, or to secure compliance with certain laws or regulations. While the design of current unilateral measures to combat IUU fishing appears to accord with trade law requirements, this article argues that there is scope for a wider and more collective approach. In this vein, new provisions in the recently concluded Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) are identified. The article concludes with recommendations for governments, international organisations, private actors and the global community wishing to take action in this area.     

Catch me if you can: Non-compliance of limpet protection in the Azores

Signs of changing marine ecosystems due to increasing human use of marine resources are recognised worldwide. Legislation and regulations are often at the core of fisheries management and harvesting control. However, these are ineffective without the respective compliance, often requiring an effective surveillance and enforcement in support of conservation success. Limpets are a popular seafood and traditionally collected and consumed in the Azores, Northeast Atlantic, leading to a fisheries collapse in the 1980s and the subsequent implementation of limpet protected zones (LPZs) and seasonal fishing closures. A roving creel survey was used in two islands of the Azores to assess the level of compliance with the existing regulations. Results indicate that shore-based limpet collection is mainly influenced by environmental conditions, including wave height and tide, and general temporal constraints, including time of day, day type, and season. A high level of non-compliance with spatial (i.e. about 40% of the harvesting events inside no-take zones) and temporal conservation measures was observed. Harvesting effort in the closed and open season was not significantly different. Recently new regulations for limpet harvesting were implemented in the Azores, extending recreational harvesting techniques to snorkelling but potential long-term effects are unknown. This study shows how on-site recreational fishing survey methods can assist managers to assess the level of illegal fishing and support the development of adaptive conservation strategies for vulnerable inshore species.     

Precious coral fisheries management in Taiwan—Past,present & future

Taiwan used to have the biggest precious coral fisheries industry in the world. However, due to changes in the fishery, including increased fishing restrictions and the replacement of obsolete vessels, the scale of the industry had been gradually reduced since 1979. Unfortunately, the initiative proved to be poorly managed and resulted in an increase in illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) coral fishing. This forced the government to review and amend the precious coral fisheries management regulations, which had been in place for decades. The Taiwanese government introduced stringent monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) management methods, already used in deep water fisheries, as a precautionary approach. At the same time, an investigation and evaluation of existing resources was carried out. Together, these initiatives were introduced in order to encourage the domestic industry to adopt the concept of ecosystem-based fishery management.     

ITQs under illegal fishing: An application to the red shrimp fishery in Chile

We study an individual transferable quota system with imperfect enforcement. We apply a model of individual fisherman behavior to the red shrimp (Pleuroncodes monodon) fishery in central-southern Chile. Simulation results suggest that illegal fishing could generate a 21% increase in fishing effort, resulting in a 13% increase in catch and a 2% lower quota price in comparison with the results of a system that operates under perfect compliance. The results are sensitive to changes in the level of fish abundance, total allowable catch, and the design of enforcement to induce compliance.     

国外对海底电缆管道违法行为处罚对我国的启示 ——以新西兰和澳大利亚为例

近年来,随着海洋油气资源的大规模开发以及跨海电力和通信需求的增加,我国海底电缆管道建设得到迅速发展,近海海底电缆管道分布愈来愈密集,同时与之相关的违法行为也日益增多。目前,我国尚未出台海底电缆管道保护法,现有的处罚规定较为分散、模糊,且处罚力度小,甚至处罚规定之间存在混乱和矛盾的问题,导致难以对海底电缆管道违法行为实施有效打击。澳大利亚和新西兰作为海洋管理经验相对成熟的国家,对海底电缆管道的法律保护较为成熟,其中对海底电缆管道违法行为的处罚分类和方式等,有诸多值得我国学习之处。基于此,文章从违法行为处罚角度深入分析我国海底电缆管道管理与保护的相关制度现状,介绍新西兰和澳大利亚海底电缆管道法律制度概况及处罚规定的特点并与我国进行比较,为完善我国海底电缆管道违法行为的处罚规定和今后的海底电缆管道立法提出了在《中华人民共和国刑法》中增设破坏海底电缆管道罪;制定《海底电缆管道法》等建议。     

Global scope and economics of illegal fishing

We present a conceptual model for the analysis of the costs and benefit aspects of the risk inherent in illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) activity. We then develop and present a map of IUU incidences as reported in the Fisheries Centre's Sea Around Us project IUU global database. This map shows that IUU activities are quite widespread geographically. We next present an analysis of the cost and benefit aspects of risks of IUU fishing. A key result of the study is that for the cases analyzed as a group; the expected benefits from IUU fishing far exceed the expected cost of being apprehended. For an assumed 1 in 5 chance of being apprehended, our calculations show that reported fines for the vessels apprehended will have to be increased by 24 times for the expected cost to be at least as much as the expected benefits.