Design Matters: Making Catch Shares Work

• PEG's Comments on Draft NOAA Catch Share Policy (PDF)
• Download the paper (PDF)
• Listen to a press briefing on the new paper
• Pew joins fishing groups and research institutes in a comment to NOAA task force (PDF)

Executive Summary

Catch shares are fishery management programs that allocate fishing privileges in the form of a specific portion of the total annual catch quota. These programs range from individual transferable quotas to community-based management systems such as sectors. While catch shares take many forms, in general they allocate the quota to allow fishing entities — individuals, communities, cooperatives, etc. — exclusive access to a portion of the quota, but require that fishing cease once that entity’s share of the quota is met.

Science-based annual catch limits are essential if catch shares are to be effective and if requirements to end overfishing and rebuild depleted fish populations are to be met. These limits ensure that the amount of fish taken each year remains at levels that allow fish populations to reproduce and maintain an adequate biomass to support maximum sustainable catch. After science-based catch limits have been determined, the quota can be allocated to participants in the fishery. This allocation must be done with careful consideration of the socioeconomic changes that may result.

The critical decisions about how a catch share program is designed and implemented, and who receives an allocation, must be given careful analysis. A properly designed program must include:

• science-based annual catch limits that include all fish killed as a result of fishing (target fish landed and non-target fish — or bycatch — discarded at sea)
• adequate monitoring of the target fish catch and bycatch
• identification of explicit conservation, social and economic goals that the program intends to achieve and metrics for measuring attainment of those goals
• permits issued for no more than 10 years and regular review and evaluation of program performance with opportunities to modify and improve the program, as required by section 303A of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery and Conservation Management Act
• adequate enforcement, including validation of catch and discard reporting and, to the extent possible, real-time management with the authority to close the fishery as soon as the quota is reached
• fair and equitable allocation through a transparent and open process, including mechanisms to accommodate recreational anglers, working fishermen and coastal communities; ownership caps so that one entity does not hold an excessive share of the quota; and opportunities for new fishermen.

Ocean fish are public resources. Catch shares, therefore, grant privileges to only a portion of the total catch and do not convey exclusive property rights to the resource. These programs can improve fisheries performance, management and ecosystem health, but only if properly designed and monitored. Correctly applied, catch shares are viable management options along with other measures such as adjusting the length of the fishing season, refining areas that are opened or closed to fishing, restricting gear to protect fish habitat and limiting catch size. Catch shares are not, however, a panacea. They should be part of a comprehensive approach that strengthens conservation and supports communities by providing access for recreational anglers and diverse fleets and crew, qualities regarded by many as the heart and soul of a working waterfront.