he Future of Under-10 Metre Quota Management: the reintegration of under-10 metre vessels into the mainstream quota management system
Introduction and Background
In its response to the SAIF Group’s Propositions Paper1 the NFFO argued that the employment of the 10m break line by successive administrations, to apply differential quota management and licensing arrangements above and below that essentially arbitrary line, had given rise to a range of unintended consequences. These included a “threshold effect” through which an increase in the number and catching capacity of vessels just below the 10m cut-off was witnessed.
This expansion of effort at the top end of the under 10-metre fleet (as an essentially rational economic response by individual vessel operators subject to much more stringent arrangements in place for vessels over-10 metres) has, in effect and over time, destabilised quota arrangement which had been introduced to deal with de minimis catches by the small boat fleet. This became apparent when the introduction of Buyers and Sellers Registration, with more comprehensive catch reporting for under-10s, revealed the true scale of under 10-meter landings.
The NFFO paper argued that the solution to the serious problems facing the under 10 metre fleet would best be dealt with the reintegration of the under 10s into the mainstream system of quota management, which had, over time, evolved into a reasonably effective system of rights-based management.
