The objective of this paper is to develop an empirical study of the boat-owners’ violation behavior regarding management regulations in the context of the artisanal fishery of the Galapagos Marine Reserve. The analysis is devoted to identifying the determinant factors motivating decisions to violate regulations, and to estimating the effects these factors have on this decision. This study places special emphasis on estimating how violation decisions are impacted by the following: the participation of boat-owners in the institutions that comprise the reserve’s participatory management system, the perception of boat-owners regarding the legitimacy of regulations, and the traditional enforcement instruments available to the authorities (detection and penalties). The authors found indications that, along with traditional enforcement tools (detection and penalties), the boat-owners’ perceptions of the legitimacy of regulations and local organizations, the sense of belonging of individual boat- owners, and their participation levels in their organizations are relevant to compliance/violation behavior. Two of the problems faced by the regulatory and enforcement authorities responsible for fisheries management in developing countries are the limited availability of specialized staff and restricted budgets for monitoring and regulation enforcement. Learning what determines a fisherman’s compliance/violation behavior might help reserve authorities refine their current enforcement strategies to induce adequate, affordable compliance levels.