{"id":4618,"date":"2013-03-12T14:41:22","date_gmt":"2013-03-12T18:41:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/edfish\/?p=4618"},"modified":"2014-11-10T14:51:31","modified_gmt":"2014-11-10T18:51:31","slug":"ending-overfishing-is-vital-to-our-future-a-reminder-as-congress-reviews-the-magnuson-stevens-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/edfish\/2013\/03\/12\/ending-overfishing-is-vital-to-our-future-a-reminder-as-congress-reviews-the-magnuson-stevens-act\/","title":{"rendered":"Ending Overfishing is Vital to Our Future: A Reminder as Congress Reviews the Magnuson-Stevens Act"},"content":{"rendered":"

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photo credit: cliff1066\u2122<\/a> via photopin<\/a> cc<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Congress is about to embark on a review<\/a> of what has worked and what hasn\u2019t in a law widely regarded as having halted overfishing in many American fisheries.\u00a0 Though we have made progress here in the United States, overfishing is wreaking havoc on the world\u2019s oceans and the mismanagement of our fisheries is the chief cause.\u00a0 Recent peer reviewed science<\/a> estimates that 64% of global fisheries are depleted below the levels required to sustain production.<\/p>\n

Overfishing can lead to the loss of important species that can upend the balance of critical ocean food webs leading to the further degradation of our ocean.\u00a0 To save the ocean, we must end overfishing.<\/p>\n

One of EDF\u2019s missions is to rebuild global fisheries with the best possible solutions that serve both fishermen and fish so that future generations can enjoy sustainable seafood, fishermen can continue to fish profitably, and our seas are healthy and abundant. \u00a0Peer reviewed and published scientific evidence and our decades of experience have shown that catch shares are one of the best solutions for rebuilding depleted fisheries both in the United States and globally.<\/p>\n

In the United States, catch shares have brought stability and sustainability to fisheries once in turmoil from overfishing. From the Gulf of Maine, to the Gulf of Mexico all the way to the Bering Sea, fishermen have more stable and flexible businesses and fisheries are recovering from years of overfishing. \u00a0If you add our neighbors to the north, Canada, there are 15 catch shares that have shown significant improvements<\/a> in the stability of jobs, revenues and increased safety.\u00a0 All over the world fishermen are learning form the work that American fishermen and fishery managers have done to save our nation\u2019s fisheries.<\/p>\n

Catch shares have not been a silver bullet in this effort.\u00a0 In some cases, setting catch limits and aggressive enforcement can be enough to make sure a fishery is sustainable, but in many cases catch limits alone produce derby fishing, where fishermen race to fish in short, unsafe seasons, make very little money, and often lose their businesses \u2013 all while the health of the fishery continues to fail.<\/p>\n

Science-based catch limits are the bedrock of any catch share program.\u00a0 Catch shares give fishermen an economic incentive to stay within those limits, practically guaranteeing an end to overfishing.\u00a0 The Gulf of Mexico commercial red snapper fishery<\/a> has been managed under a catch share for more than five years. Before the catch share, fishermen were often exceeding their catch limit and racing in derby seasons that continued to get shorter and shorter. These derbies were unsafe, sometimes unprofitable and were doing nothing to help rebuild the fishery.<\/p>\n

For the last five years, commercial red snapper fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico have seen their fishery prosper through a rebuilding effort under catch shares. Commercial fishermen have seen increases in their catch limit, stable prices and better paying jobs, as well as impressive reductions in wasted fish and the flexibility they need to run successful businesses.<\/p>\n

Beyond on-the-water examples, peer reviewed scientific studies of catch shares from around the world show that catch shares can assure the long term sustainability of fish stocks and maximize the social and economic value created by the sustainable use of the fishery. Furthermore, catch shares consistently succeed where conventional management approaches<\/a> have failed. Specifically, research and experience shows catch shares:<\/p>\n