Risky facilities: Analysis of illegal recreational fishing in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, Australia. Issue 3 (September 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Weekers, Damian P; Zahnow, Renee
• Is Part Of: Australian & New Zealand journal of criminology. Volume 52:Issue 3(2019)
• Page Start: 368
• Page End: 389
• Publication Date: 2019-09
• Subjects: Environmental criminology -- Great Barrier Reef Marine Park -- illegal fishing -- marine protected areas -- poaching -- risky facilities -- situational crime prevention -- wildlife crime; Criminology -- Australia -- Periodicals; Criminology -- New Zealand -- Periodicals; Criminology -- Periodicals; Criminal justice, Administration of -- Australia -- Periodicals; Criminal justice, Administration of -- New Zealand -- Periodicals; Criminal justice, Administration of -- Periodicals; 364.099
• DOI: 10.1177/0004865818804021
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0004-8658

Abstract

This paper extends criminological interpretations of risky facilities to focus on how illegal fishing is concentrated in a small number of places in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park in Australia. Testing the applicability of the general hypothesis of risky facilities – that crime is highly concentrated among certain people, places and things – the results demonstrate that the spatial distribution of poaching in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park reflects previous environmental criminology studies which show that crime is concentrated in a small number of places. Poaching risk increases in no-take zones which share a number of homogenous characteristics that also attract legitimate routine activity. Our findings lend support to the emerging environmental criminology literature which examines wildlife crime through the lens of opportunity. Such an approach provides conservation practitioners with an established framework for developing prevention-based compliance management strategies in marine protected areas.