{"id":1180,"date":"2010-05-03T14:00:06","date_gmt":"2010-05-03T21:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/edfish\/?p=1180"},"modified":"2010-05-03T14:06:05","modified_gmt":"2010-05-03T21:06:05","slug":"catch-shares-address-community-impacts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/edfish\/2010\/05\/03\/catch-shares-address-community-impacts\/","title":{"rendered":"Catch Shares Address Community Impacts in Ways Conventional Fisheries Management Can\u2019t"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Johanna<\/a>
Johanna Thomas, EDF Oceans - Pacific Coast Regional Director<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At the end of the day, all fishing communities have one thing in common: they all depend on healthy, productive fish stocks. Catch shares management help fishing communities by maintaining fish stocks or bringing them back, while increasing the quality and profitability of fishing jobs.\u00a0 They can also include tools and mechanisms that benefit communities, things you won\u2019t find under traditional management.<\/p>\n

Today more than 60 federal fish stocks are overfished or undergoing overfishing<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0 As a result, thousands of fishing jobs have been lost. Under conventional management, fishermen in these underperforming fisheries face closures, ever-increasing limits on harvest levels, and dwindling seasons.\u00a0 When fishing is allowed they are often forced into a dangerous and inefficient race for the fish.<\/p>\n

For example, under conventional management, the West Coast trawl fishery has been on a downward economic spiral.\u00a0 Plants have closed, infrastructure has been lost, and ports have become shadows of their former selves.\u00a0 An estimated 15% of the fleet has left the fishery due to lack of fishing opportunity in the last five years; fishermen have been leaving the industry, creating worsening economic conditions for communities that have historically relied on groundfish landings.\u00a0\u00a0 Under status quo management, a few major players have bought up a large number of permits, consolidating ownership and leading to fewer owner-operators on the water.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

In contrast, catch share programs can include ways to deliver the benefits of a healthy fishery to communities, including fair allocation, limits on consolidation, and opportunities for new entrants.\u00a0 Catch shares can also include ways to conserve the resource so that the fishery will deliver benefits into the future.<\/p>\n

Specifically, the forthcoming Pacific groundfish catch share includes:<\/p>\n