{
  "abstract": "Incentive-based conservation programs offer a promising approach for reducing fishing pressure on threatened species while supporting coastal livelihoods, yet causal evidence remains scarce. Modest budgets and small samples are a persistent challenge to evaluating pilots of novel conservation programs. We conducted a 12-month pre-registered randomized pilot of a gear exchange program in Aceh Province, Indonesia, allocating 11 vessels to treatment (N = 4) or control (N = 7) after 26 months of baseline (pre-treatment) monitoring. Treatment vessels were offered fish traps in exchange for gillnets — associated with bycatch of Critically Endangered elasmobranchs. After comparable pre-treatment bycatch rates, treatment vessels recorded zero bycatch across 306 pilot trips while control vessel bycatch declined but persisted (64 individuals, 890 trips), yielding a 95% reduction in bycatch odds (difference-in-differences odds ratio 0.050 [0.002–0.420]). Net income was also $48.62 higher per trip (95% CI: $37.90–$59.35). Bycatch also declined in controls due to opportunistic shifts towards handlining, meaning effects would have been overstated without a counterfactual-based design. Survey data revealed high acceptability and dual conservation-livelihood motivations. Through our randomized mixed-methods pilot we generated credible causal estimates and mechanistic insights that an uncontrolled pilot could not, demonstrating the value of randomized piloting before scaling.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 7,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Hollie Booth"
    },
    {
      "name": "Ilham Fajri"
    },
    {
      "name": "Rusdiansyah R"
    },
    {
      "name": "Kusuma Banda Naira"
    },
    {
      "name": "Muhammad Rizal"
    },
    {
      "name": "Luky Adrianto"
    },
    {
      "name": "Julia P. G. Jones"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/9je1xgyj1jn5x.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.32942/x2c40d",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "9je1xgyj1jn5x",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://ecoevorxiv.org/repository/view/15106/",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "bepress",
      "Aquaculture and Fisheries Life Sciences"
    ],
    [
      "bepress",
      "Behavioral Economics"
    ],
    [
      "bepress",
      "Environmental Studies"
    ],
    [
      "bepress",
      "Marine Biology"
    ],
    [
      "bepress",
      "Social and Behavioral Sciences"
    ],
    [
      "bepress",
      "alternative livelihoods"
    ],
    [
      "bepress",
      "bycatch mitigation"
    ],
    [
      "bepress",
      "causal inference"
    ],
    [
      "bepress",
      "elasmobranchs"
    ],
    [
      "bepress",
      "fisheries management"
    ],
    [
      "bepress",
      "incentives"
    ],
    [
      "bepress",
      "randomized controlled trial"
    ],
    [
      "bepress",
      "shark conservation"
    ],
    [
      "bepress",
      "small-scale fisheries"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2306|Marine and fisheries research"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7213954448",
  "pdf_url": "https://ecoevorxiv.org/repository/object/15106/download/26210/",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-22",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/9je1xgyj1jn5x.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:26Z",
      "native_id": "15106",
      "source": "ecoevorxiv",
      "url": "https://ecoevorxiv.org/repository/view/15106/"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "bepress:Marine Biology",
      "subfield": "ecology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Positive outcomes and insights for scaling from a randomized pilot of a gear exchange program to reduce bycatch in small-scale fisheries",
  "title_text": "Positive outcomes and insights for scaling from a randomized pilot of a gear exchange program to reduce bycatch in small-scale fisheries",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:17:26Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/9je1xgyj1jn5x",
  "venue": "EcoEvoRxiv",
  "versions": []
}