Catch Shares
"Catch shares" is a general term used in several fisheries management strategies, which include Limited Access Privilege Programs (LAPP) and individual fishing quotas, that dedicate a secure share of fish to individual fishermen, cooperatives or fishing communities for their exclusive use. The first Catch Share Program in the U.S. was implemented in 1990 in the Mid-Atlantic Surf Clam and Ocean Quahog Fishery. Catch share programs are currently used in 15 fisheries managed by six regional fishery management councils, with additional programs in development.
| Catch Share
Policy Guiding Principles |
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Identify specific management goals |
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Ensure fair and equitable allocations |
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Promote flexibility & access via transferability |
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Acknowledge distinctions among sectors |
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Define duration of program |
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Promote fishing community sustainability |
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Consider royalty provisions |
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Implement cost recovery |
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Track performance & conduct periodic reviews |
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In the United States and world-wide, catch shares are helping to eliminate overfishing and achieve annual catch limits, produce more fish at lower costs, improve fishermen’s safety and profits, and reduce the negative biological and economic effects of regulated fisheries that don't use catch share programs.
The NOAA Catch Share Policy, effective November 4, 2010, provides guidance and direction on Catch Share Programs as a fishery management tool to build and maintain sustainable and prosperous U.S. fisheries and healthy ocean ecosystems. The policy was developed using input from each Regional Fishery Management Council, commercial and recreational stakeholders, environmental groups and thousands of public comments. The policy states: |
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| Catch share programs are but one management option Councils can choose to meet their management objectives. Catch shares are not required by the Policy or appropriate for every fishery. NOAA Fisheries Service will provide technical and administrative support to Councils and stakeholders wishing to consider, design and/or implement a catch share program for their fishery. |
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Councils should periodically review all catch share and non-catch share programs to ensure that management goals are specified, measurable, tracked and used to gauge whether a program is meeting its goals and objectives.
Incremental government costs for management, data collection and analysis, and enforcement of limited access privilege programs shall be recovered from participants as required by the MSA.
NOAA will assist Councils if and when they determine that it is in the public interest to collect royalties for the initial or subsequent allocations in a limited access privilege program.
Councils should develop policies to engage with and promote the sustained participation of fishing communities and take advantage of the recently added community provisions in the MSA. NOAA will work in partnership with Councils, other federal agencies and coastal states to promote sustainable fishing communities, resource access and co-management principles, including the use of Fishing Community and Regional Fishing Association provisions of the MSA, and build fishing community capacity to develop and utilize permit banks and other sustainability tools.
The duration of every catch share program should be explicitly defined.
No fishery or sector (e.g., commercial, recreational or subsistence) is required by the policy to adopt catch shares. Councils should consider the appropriateness of catch share programs and decide which, if any, sectors may benefit from their use. NOAA will support the design and implementation of catch share programs for the commercial and recreational charter and head boat sectors as appropriate, but does not advocate the use of individual private angler catch shares. However, NOAA will support Councils in the identification and application of innovative management measures that both promote recreational fishing access and foster sustainable fisheries.
Councils should thoroughly assess the net benefits of catch share transferability, including allowing inter-sector transfers to both promote future access opportunities and contribute to conservation and management goals.
For all fishery management programs, including catch shares, the underlying harvest allocations to specific fishery sectors (e.g., commercial and recreational) should be revisited on a regular basis, and the basis for the allocation should include consideration of conservation, economic, and social criteria used in specifying optimum yield and in furtherance of the goals of the underlying FMP.
All fishery management programs, including catch shares, should identify specific measurable goals for management.
