British Columbia integrated groundfish program

Special design features

The British Columbia Integrated Groundfish Program (Integrated Program) is one of the most comprehensive catch share programs in the world. The multi-species program includes over 70 species, 30 of which are managed via quota, and includes all commercial fishermen targeting groundfish, regardless of gear type.

The program includes a number of innovative design features such as quota set-asides, which are meant to encourage community development and incentivize positive treatment of crew. Additionally, the program requires 100% individual accountability of all catch and uses an innovative monitoring and catch accounting system to support accountability.

Synopsis

The British Columbia groundfish fishery has a 20-year history with catch shares: The first catch share program was implemented in 1990 for the sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria) fishery, followed one year later by the halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis) fishery.

In 1997, the groundfish trawl fishery implemented an IVQ Program, and in 2006, managers implemented the Integrated Groundfish Pilot Program that combined the halibut, sablefish and groundfish trawl programs and incorporated all commercial hook and line caught rockfish, lingcod (Ophiodon elongates) and dogfish (Squalus acanthias) into one overarching program.

The overarching program was made permanent at the start of the 2010/2011 season and is what we refer to in this case study as the Integrated Groundfish Program.

The fishery occurs off Canada’s west coast and is managed by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), with joint management of halibut stocks by the International Pacific Fisheries Commission. Fishermen use hook and line, traps and trawls to harvest over 60 stocks of groundfish. The total value of groundfish landings was $124 million in 2007 (Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 2009a).