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relationship between high enforcement and fishermen incomes, fishermen environmental commitment and OMS
suggests an important role of enforcement not only in ecology, but also on economic and social aspects. These
relationships suggest that the ecological benefits determined by high enforcement (i.e. increase in fish density/
biomass within the MPA) most likely translate into economic benefits for fishermen via spill-over processes
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enhancing fisheries catches in the buffer zones. Subsequently, the perceived economic benefits by the fishermen
contribute to increased compliance by the fishermen.
In the past, increasing the level of enforcement was demanding on the finances and resources of an MPA’s
management body, especially when an MPA covers a large area. However achieving higher enforcement has
become easier given the low cost of new technologies, such as unmanned aerial vehicles (i.e. conservation
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drones), and automatic ship identification systems (AIS) . If MPAs are to combat the poaching and illegal fish-
ing that accounts for a loss of US$10–23 billion globally, and a loss of more than 27000 jobs (i.e. 13% of total
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fisheries employment) in Europe , there is a strong need for MPAs to develop strategies aimed at ensuring high
enforcement.
Fishermen engagement into MPA SSF management was highlighted as the second most relevant (in terms of RI)
attribute affecting OMS. Specifically, MPAs that actively engage fishermen within SSF management display a
higher OMS than MPAs where fishermen have a marginal or passive role (Fig. 3). Likewise, the presence of fish-
ermen within the management board (ranked as third most important attribute) is associated with successful SSF
management. Our results agree with previous studies suggesting that participation of local users in the manage-
ment of common pool resources is associated with positive outcomes 40,41 . In addition, we note the significant role
of fishermen engagement in determining fishermen environmental commitment. This suggests that user partici-
pation in management can lead to perceived legitimacy of MPA management, a step crucial in determining user
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compliance . Compliance can thus be related to a range of contextual conditions and processes, rather than just
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to the level of enforcement . However, despite the positive influence of fishermen engagement in SSF manage-
ment, only 60% of MPAs actively engage fishermen, and only 52% of MPAs examined had a fishermen represent-
ative on the management board (Supplementary Table S2).
In our study, compliance of local professional fishermen partially determines the measure of fishermen envi-
ronmental commitment and OMS (see Supplementary methods). The significant correlation between fishermen
environmental commitment and enforcement, and OMS and enforcement, can therefore be expected assuming
that enforcement results in compliance. However, factors regulating compliance are highly complex 31,44,48 with
a limited effect of enforcement 44,49 , contradicting classical deterrence theory. These results suggest that if stake-
holders are not engaged in the management process, more surveillance and enforcement could result in a negative
attitude of stakeholders toward the MPA. This, in turn, would further distance MPA managers from stakeholders,
potentially resulting in law infringements by local fishermen. In contrast, when fishermen are involved in man-
agement they feel that enforcement safeguards their rights, resulting in informal commitment of fishermen to sus-
tainable SSF practices. In our case studies, formal and informal participation of fishermen in rulemaking and on
MPA management boards likely leads to perceived legitimacy of SSF resulting in successful outcomes. Similar
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results have been seen in forestry where the participation of local forest users in forestry rulemaking resulted in
higher tree species richness and increase in subsistence livelihoods . However, understanding the causal mecha-
40
nisms underlying the fisher-manager-enforcement relationship requires further work and goes beyond the scope
of this paper. Nonetheless our findings clearly support a participatory and decentralised governance in fisheries ,
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and highlight, for the first time, that informal fishermen engagement in the Mediterranean can mimic the ben-
efits of co-management seen in other regions 34,35 . This evidence is particularly relevant considering that in the
Mediterranean, strong state–federal governance frameworks and institutional arrangements represent major bar-
riers to formal power sharing between public authorities and stakeholders (i.e. co-management) .
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The presence of SSF management plans has a clear positive effect on OMS (Fig. 3). Despite this, 32% of the
investigated MPAs did not have a SSF management plan (Supplementary Table S2) suggesting a need for wider
implementation, and to develop plans that specifically address fisheries management with an emphasis on the
participatory processes. Management plans can be formal or informal arrangements between MPA management
body and fishermen, but they should detail the agreed objectives of the fishery and specify the management
rules and regulations. Management plans should also contain a strategy aimed at promoting either traditional
or novel mechanisms toward sustainable SSF. This is particularly relevant considering that MPAs that allow and
promote sustainable SSF through labelling and awareness campaigns are associated with high OMS (Fig. 3). This
highlights the potentially rewarding “marriage” between SSFs within MPAs and ecolabeling , contradicting the
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widely criticised bias of sustainable fisheries initiatives against SSF 11,52,53 . This bias occurs because the develop-
ment of eco-labels for SSF is generally limited by costs that are not manageable within SSF communities 11,52 .
However, these costs could be reduced by capitalising on routine data collection, assessment and management
activities already carried out in well-managed MPAs.
The low but statistically significant RI of HDI points out that successful management is more difficult to
achieve in low HDI countries (Fig. 3). A lack of funding dedicated to MPAs most likely impedes effective enforce-
ment while at the same time not allowing for programmes that engage fishermen into MPA SSF management,
nor the ability to promote sustainable SSF. This drawback should be duly acknowledged given the high number
of countries (both in the Mediterranean and globally) that fall within the low HDI range. Evidence within the
literature concerning the role of HDI status affecting SES management is inconsistent. Some studies suggest a
negligible role of HDI status while others indicate that high HDI values are associated with greater management
34
success . Reasoning behind this mismatch is complex and can be related to social and/or political situations, and
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are therefore difficult to generalise.
The results for the role of portion of each MPA covered by no-take zone and only local fishermen allowed (oper-
ated in 60% of the MPAs investigated in this study, see Supplementary Table S2) were inconclusive but their
RI in determining OMS was similar to the value of HDI. Increasing the proportion of each MPA covered by a

Scientific RepoRts | 6:38135 | DOI: 10.1038/srep38135 5