4.5. Implications for making regulations
Besides the factors that gained agreement from fishers, this study
found out that the factor of making regulations to prohibit fishing vessels from discharging garbage into sea gaining fishers’ neutral
views is worth further discussion. While it is recognized that making
regulations might compel fishers to follow the rules, this study argues
that this approach would not be effective in deterring illegal
discharge. The reasons for this argument are two-fold. One is that
such command-and-control regulations would be difficult to enforce
at sea. Enforcement at sea is terrifically expensive and technically
difficult to implement. Enforcement cost typically involves surveil-
lance of compliance with laws and a role in the prosecution of fishers
who do not comply with those laws [39]. It involves a huge
investment of administrative effort, personnel and financial resources,
which entails the commitment of massive resources. It is, therefore,
highly doubtful that regulations could be effectively enforced. The
other is that if the expected gain from breaking rules being greater
than the expected loss from complying with rules, fishers will tend to
violate rules, as indicated in the Becker model that focuses on
decision makers being inclined to make rational economic decisions
when deciding compliance or non-compliance [40].