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Biosecurity messages are lost in translation to citizens: Implications for devolving management to citizens
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Biosecurity messages are lost in translation to citizens: Implications for devolving management to citizens

I.C. Davidson, M.L. Campbell, D.E.P. Bryant and C.L. Hewitt
PLoS ONE, Vol.12(4), Art. e0175439
2017
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Abstract

The increasing focus of marine biosecurity agencies on transferring management responsibilities to citizens and industry begs the question whether devolved responsibility is a viable option for creating biosecurity outcomes. We examined recreational marine users’ self-declared awareness of non-indigenous marine species (NIMS) at six locations in Tasmania, Australia and evaluated the accuracy of their awareness through recognition of four well-known NIMS with active awareness campaigns. We also investigated whether the activities of recreational marine users influence the accuracy of their NIMS recognition skills. We generally found that respondents declare NIMS awareness (70.45%), yet we found their recognition accuracy was variable ranging from low to fair (<10% to 54.95%) and recreational activity did not influence accuracy. Based on our results, we conclude that marine users’ awareness does not predict accuracy and therefore devolved management of biosecurity without additional resources may pose a risky biosecurity management strategy.

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UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#13 Climate Action
#14 Life Below Water
#15 Life on Land

Source: InCites

InCites Highlights

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
International collaboration
Citation topics
3 Agriculture, Environment & Ecology
3.2 Marine Biology
3.2.509 Marine Algae
Web Of Science research areas
Multidisciplinary Sciences
ESI research areas
Environment/Ecology
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