The groundfish fleet on the West Coast has been struggling to stay afloat as a result of major cutbacks that have been designed to reverse problems with overfishing as well as to protect the sea floor from any damage being caused by trawling gear.
The fleet is now embarking on a brand new system in fisheries management after years worth of negotiation and work. This new system is known as a catch share. What it allows is for fishermen to receive their very own personal shares of whatever is caught in total, and therefore each fishermen is given personal responsibility when it comes to not catching species that are overfished, and in return they are promised with better prices for whatever fish they do manage to catch.
In the shorter term, this is a concept that may seem to stunt the fishing capabilities of the fleet, but in the longer term it is appearing more and more like the right direction to go. The federal agency that is responsible for overseeing commercial fishing, NOAA Fisheries Service, is really pressing the regional fishery councils responsible for setting harvest limits to adopt these catch share programs.
The agency is currently under a mandate by congress that is designed to end all overfishing in United States waters by the year 2011, which is the year that this West Coast groundfish's accord is going into effect. Out of 244 fisheries that have been so far assessed, there are 41 remaining fisheries that need to be brought into line.
At current, every single council for regional fishery management is being encouraged to look at this tool to determine whether or not it is appropriate for fisheries around the country. The groundfish fishery in New England has been struggling for a decade and a half to rebuild their stocks of cod and haddock, and they are chief among the candidates for switching to this catch share program.
The stakes are definitely high right now, as according to the NOAA Fisheries Service, commercial fishing is contributing $28 billion dollars to the economy every year. Unfortunately, our nation's appetite to eat fish is outstripping the domestic supply right now. Sixty percent of all of the seafood that is consumed in the United States is imported in.
Because fishermen will no longer have to race in order to fill their nets, as they can spend more time focusing on quality and fishing efficiency. There is not actually anything magical about catch share, but what they are doing is changing the incentives for fishermen that are going to benefit as soon as the fish stocks have been rebuilt.
With their own unique quota, each fisherman can fish when the market and the weather are best. This gives them individual responsibility to maintain limits on the bycatch. The ones who do stay within their limits can buy shares in order to cover the excess. An observer will always be on board to count the fish being hauled up and to ensure that captains avoiding bycatch are rewarded.
Photo Credits: US Mission Canada
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