Techno-optimism versus techno-reality: an analysis of internationally funded technological solutions against illegal unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in Ghana and Guinea-Bissau

Abstract

Maritime governance has been immersed in growing techno-optimism.Technological developments have largely increased the capacity of states torender legible activities at sea and thus more effectively govern them. One areain which such techno-optimism has gained force but is yet to prove itself is thefight against Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing. While technol-ogy-aided international cooperation has been crucial in curbing piracy, it hasbeen slower to tame IUU fishing. In this article, we study international projectsintroducing technology-based solutions against IUU fishing in West Africa.Triangulating project documentation, donor evaluations, interviews, andother secondary sources, we assess how the techno-optimism driving thoseinitiatives meets the techno-reality of their contexts of implementation. We findthat, while grounds for optimism are far from unwarranted, realizing the poten-tial of technological solutions against IUU fishing requires securing parallelcooperation that allows states to transform technology-based awareness intoaction.