Climate change, general strain and illegal fishing: An empirical test of Agnew’s criminology of climate change theory in Iran

ABSTRACT

In the present study, to explain illegal fishing, Agnew’s Criminology of Climate Change Theory was adopted as the theoretical framework. The study was conducted using a survey methodology, and a questionnaire was used for collecting the data. The population of the study consisted of the villagers of Fereydonkenar, an Iranian city in Mazandaran province, from whom 400 people were selected through proportionate stratified random sampling. The results of the study showed that about 53% (212) of the respondents had been fishing using illegal methods. The results of the structural equation modeling revealed that climate change perception and general strain had the greatest influence on illegal fishing. Also, climate change perception was found to influence illegal fishing by positively influencing the general strain.

KEYWORDS:

• Environmental crime
• Illegal fishing
• Climate change perception
• General strain

Highlights

• Illegal fisherman, on average, have captured 51.9 fish over the previous year.

• Age and incomes are associated positively with illegal fishing.

• Climate change perception and general strain had the most influence on illegal fishing.

• Climate change perception can influence illegal fishing, by positively influencing the general strain.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

¹ The name of the only authorized fishing cooperative in Fereydonkenar County.

² A specific type of fishing trap in Fereydonkenar County which is mainly used by illegal fishermen.

³ To build a general strain scale, aspects of disjunction between expectations and achievements and removal of positively-valued stimuli were converted to standard scores and then computed.