Catch share applications are the most important change in West Coast trawl fisheries management in a generation. The forms are a crucial step for fishermen to participate in a catch-shares program, in which individual fishermen will be granted access to a specified share of the valuable West Coast bottom fish trawl harvest.
The new catch share system starts from January 1 and will replace the conventional practice of setting a fleet-wide quota of how many fish can be caught and then letting fishermen compete with each other to catch as much of that quota as possible before the fishery is closed.
Under catch share system the total amount of an overall allowable catch or quota divided into shares each year which is controlled by individual fishermen. Will Stelle, northwest regional administrator for NOAA’s Fisheries Service, said that this ambitious and exciting new fisheries program can benefit both fish and fishermen.
The West Coast trawl fishery, which includes such popular species as sole, sablefish and Pacific whiting, was worth about USD 40 million in dockside value last year to fishing communities that span the coast from Bellingham, Wash., to Morro Bay, Calif. Once NOAA Fisheries issues the catch-share permits later this year, there is an appeal process if applicants feel mistakes have been made.
