According to the news report the West Coast groundfish fleet are struggling to reverse long-standing problems with overfishing and to protect the seafloor from damage caused by bottom trawling gear. For this they have started working on the latest system in fisheries management, known as “catch share.” Fishermen are given their own individual shares of the total catch, personal responsibility for not catching overfished species, and a promise of better prices for the fish they do haul up.
Todd Whaley, 46, part-owner and skipper of the Miss Sarah, a 102-foot trawler, informed that in the short term it might hurt people. In the long term I think it’s the way to go. NOAA Fisheries Service, the federal agency that oversees commercial fishing, is pressing regional fishery councils that set harvest limits around the country to adopt catch share programs.
Jane Lubchenco, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, explained that the scientific evidence is pretty clear that commercial fisheries that are managed with catch shares on balance perform better than traditionally managed fisheries. NOAA said that commercial fishing contributes $28 billion a year to the economy.
According to study fishermen who owned a share of the harvest made more money fishing less while doing a better job of conserving the resource. The idea is when they no longer have to race to fill their nets they can concentrate on quality and efficiency. West Coast groundfish have been rebuilding since 2000, when harvests were cut in half to protect overfished rockfish.
For five years fishermen and conservation groups have been working with the Pacific Fishery Management Council to adopt a catch share system, already in force with a dozen U.S. fisheries including Alaskan halibut, Gulf red snapper and Atlantic surf clams. The council approved the move last year. The rules go into effect Jan. 1, 2011.
