New Life For a West Coast Fishery

Innovative program will keep popular Pacific fish on the menu

Posted: 27-Aug-2008; Updated: 15-Sep-2008

With catch shares, fishing boats are safer and waste less fish.

In a major breakthrough, the Pacific Fishery Management Council approved a preliminary plan this summer to revive the West Coast's largest fishery, which has been severely depleted in recent years. The "catch share" approach we've advocated will cover about 80 bottom-dwelling species collectively known as groundfish.

Rockfish catches plunge

The West Coast catch of rockfish, a type of groundfish often marketed as red snapper, plunged by 70 percent during the last two decades. In 2000, the federal government declared the fishery a disaster and closed much of the area to trawling.

"The problem is not the fishermen," says Johanna Thomas, our Pacific fisheries projects director. "Fishermen have done everything that fishery managers have asked them to do."

Regulators have historically responded to overfishing by shortening the season. But such regulations set up a "race for fish," which leads to dangerous fishing conditions, overinvestment in boats and gear, market gluts and excessive bycatch (the capture of unwanted species that are dumped overboard).

Catch shares work

With catch shares, each trawler is simply assigned a percentage of the scientifically determined total allowable annual catch. Captains can go out whenever they want and also have the option to instantly trade their shares with other boats if the need arises.

For example, if a fisherman takes more than his share, he can buy available shares from someone else, still keeping the total catch within the limits. As the fishery recovers, each share becomes more valuable, giving fishermen a long-term financial stake in the health of the system.

"It is a sophisticated approach because it rewards fishermen for conservation," says Thomas. A catch share program we helped develop for red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico has reduced bycatch by 50 percent and fishermen report a 30 percent increase in dockside fish prices.

Catch shares have proven successful in dozens of fisheries worldwide. Our goal is to make them the standard for reviving ailing U.S. fisheries.

"Without Environmental Defense Fund, I don't think the fishing community would have learned about the science and economics of the fishery," says Brian Mose, a trawl fisherman in British Columbia. Canada introduced a catch share system for groundfish that has led to healthier fish stocks, better prices and less waste.

An observer in every boat is key

One critical aspect of the Pacific plan is its call for full monitoring. It will put official observers, backed up by video cameras, on each of the boats. Monitoring allows regulators to eliminate the guesswork that has long plagued fisheries management.

Before the final vote on the plan in November, our team will work with conservation and fishing allies to protect these strong environmental measures.

"It's been a long, hard process," said Donald Hansen, the council's chairman. "But when it's over, we'll have a cleaner way of fishing."

From the September 2008 Solutions newsletter [PDF]