This move is good for small and large fishing businesses. A year-round fishing season is just one of many benefits.  See National Fisherman's article on how the new IFQ program is already making a difference.

Unfortunately, grouper fishermen in the Southeast aren’t faring as well under traditional management. They’re in the middle of a four month fishing closure. This isn’t just hard on fishermen, it’s hard on local restaurants and other businesses too. Southeast fishery managers should consider catch shares to eliminate these devastating season closures and bring fish populations back to health quickly.

Finally, we want to congratulate the fishermen, Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Management Council and others who worked so hard to add grouper and tilefish to the Gulf’s IFQ. We are excited to see the progress that these fisheries will make in the coming year.

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council deserves a pat on the back for already considering catch shares for some of its fisheries, and NOAA’s new policy can help jumpstart even more progress to end overfishing in all Gulf fisheries. Ending overfishing is good for Gulf economies and will give fishermen more time on the water.

The red snapper individual fishing quota (IFQ), one type of catch share, is wrapping up its third year, and we continue to see the tangible benefits of catch shares: commercial overfishing is ending, fishing businesses are more stable, and bycatch (accidentally-caught fish that must be thrown back in the water and often die) has been significantly reduced.

Other Gulf fisheries and sectors can benefit from catch shares too:

• Grouper and tilefish commercial fishermen want the same benefits that red snapper fishermen are having with their 3-year old IFQ, and they’ll get them when grouper and tilefish are added to the IFQ program in less than a month – on January 1. By extending the IFQ to all reef fish, the economic and environmental benefits could multiply throughout the entire region.
• The Gulf red snapper stock assessment was updated last week and it shows that snapper stocks are rebounding. Though the population isn’t fully rebuilt, additional fish will likely be given to fishing sectors that consistently stay within their annual fishing limits. Commercial fishermen consistently stay within their fishing limits and will likely be allotted more fish for next year. Recreational fishermen, subject to outdated management like short seasons and closures, have exceeded their limit for several years in a row, which could prevent them from receiving more fish.
• Recreational fishermen had one of the shortest red snapper seasons on record this year and had their Amberjack fishery closed unexpectedly in October, all based on efforts from fishery managers to end overfishing. Instead of instituting season closures and other outdated management tools, which are bad for local businesses that depend on tourism, fishery managers should explore other types of management tools – including IFQs for charter and head boats and harvest tags for private anglers. New management like this would give anglers and local businesses more fishing time and continue to rebuild fish stocks.

As you can see, there’s a lot of room for the fishery managers, fishermen and others to capitalize on this opportunity to more quickly an easily implement catch shares.  Let’s get to work!

Last week the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council's Science and Statistical Committee updated its regional red snapper stock assessment and found signs that the population, though not recovered, is finally beginning to make a comeback. There is work ahead and many unknowns remain, but this looks like great news for fishermen, local communities and the environment.

At its February meeting, the Council will likely increase the quantity of fish that fishermen are allowed to catch. Commercial fishermen working under a successful red snapper management plan called an Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) will have a good chance to be rewarded with more fish next year (and beyond). This sector poses little risk because fishermen are living within their catch limits, they have reduced the number of fish that must be thrown overboard dying to comply with closed season and size limit regulations, and they follow strict monitoring and accountability rules. At the same time, IFQ management has helped fishermen improve and stabilize dockside prices, reduce the costs to harvest fish, and provide higher quality fish to consumers.

On the other hand, it is less certain how the recreational fishery will fare. This is because the sector's management plan is not working and fails to help anglers abide by their scientifically-safe catch limit. Any potential change in the amount of fish a sector is allowed to bring to shore must account for such past and anticipated overharvests.

Red snapper are favorite targets for anglers who venture to offshore waters, and they are important to coastal recreational businesses. That's why improving recreational management is one of the most important challenges facing this fishery. New systems should be designed and tested – like IFQ plans for charter and party boats and harvest tags for anglers – to better manage sport fisheries, provide more access to fishing, and reduce overharvests and wasteful discarding.

In the Gulf's red snapper fishery, commercial and sport fishermen split the catch by 51 percent and 49 percent, respectively. Thus, to recover the snapper population, each sector must have effective management and be held accountable for its share of the catch. Everyone stands to benefit – tourists, sea food lovers, recreational enthusiasts, local businesses, and the Gulf's marine ecosystem.

Let’s keep the good news coming!

Photo by Tony Zelenoff

This tri-national meeting, organized by our colleagues at the Cuban environmental ministry and the US-based NGO 1Planet1Ocean, was the third in a series of meetings in which scientists from the three countries have exchanged science and ideas for restoring marine resources in the Gulf of Mexico.

Later in the week, EDF and Cuban experts hosted a workshop on how marine protected areas and innovative fisheries management tools, like catch shares, can be used together to restore important ocean fish populations. I greatly appreciate the warm welcome we have consistently received from our colleagues in Cuba. They deserve great credit for making this collaboration work. It is clear that greater cooperation on environmental protection in the Gulf of Mexico has real potential to bridge the political gulf that still exists between Cuba and the US.