Why is illegal fishing occurring in the Persian Gulf? A case study from the Hormozgan province of Iran

IUU fishing is recognized as one of the largest threats to sustainable fisheries worldwide. This paper focuses on IUU fishing by artisanal fishermen in the northern Persian Gulf (Hormozgan province of Iran). A qualitative study was conducted by using Grounded Theory (GT) method to find out which factors are influencing the occurrence of illegal fishing. Data for this study was drawn from fifty-one in-depth and semi-structured interviews, using the snowball sampling technique. Using this data, a model was developed with categories such as culture, management issues, economic conditions, personal skills and area features. Subsequently, the semantic network was illustrated to represent relationships between categories. As illegal fishing is a serious concern in the Persian Gulf, the findings of the present paper could help to promote more sustainable fisheries in the region and beyond.