Glossary

Accountable (syn. Accountability) – In reference to the attributes of a catch share program, participants are required to stay within their allocated share of the overall catch. See SEASALT.

All sources – In reference to the attributes of a catch share program, shares include all sources of fishing mortality (landed and discarded) and when combined do not exceed the catch limit. See SEASALT.

Allocation – Distribution of a secure share of the catch to individuals or groups.

Annual allocation unit – The measure which is used to determine the annual amount of fish each participant is allowed to catch, usually defined as total weight. It is often calculated as a percentage of the catch limit based on a participant’s holdings. In the case of species and area-based program, the unit is also a specified area.

At-sea monitoring – The collection of information on fishing activities taking place at-sea, including harvesting, catch handling, biological sampling, fishing methods, and interactions with protected species. At-sea monitoring is conducted with onboard observers or an electronic monitoring system.

Bycatch (syn. Incidental catch, Non-target catch/species) – Fish other than the primary target species that are caught incidental to the harvest of the primary species. Bycatch may be retained or discarded. Discards may occur for regulatory or economic reasons (National Research Council [NRC], 1999).

Catch (syn. Harvest) – The total number (or weight) of fish caught by fishing operations. Catch includes all fish killed by the act of fishing, not just those landed (FAO, n.d.)

Catch accounting – The tracking of fishermen’s catch, including landings and discards, against their share holdings.

Catch limit (syn. Total allowable catch (TAC)) – The scientifically-determined acceptable level of fishing mortality.

Catch share (syn. Catch share program) – A fishery management system that allocates a secure privilege to harvest a specified amount of a fishery’s total catch to an individual or group (groups can be community-based). A catch share program may also allocate a specific fishing area.

Community – The populations that live and interact physically and temporally in the same area (Blackhart et al., 2006).

Community Development Quota (CDQ) – A catch share program in western Alaska under which a percentage of the total allowable catch is allocated to eligible Alaskan villages to ensure continued opportunities to participate in western Alaskan fisheries and to provide economic and social benefits (Blackhart et al., 2006)

Community Fishing Quota (CFQ) – Catch share program in which shares are allocated to a specific community with certain rules and stipulations that tie the share, or the proceeds of the share, to that community.

Community Quota – See Community Fishing Quota. Concentration – A measurement of the percent of privileges held by one entity.

Concentration cap (syn. Accumulation limit) – The limit on the percentage of the shares any one participant or entity can hold and/or fish.

Consolidation – The accumulation of shares by a relatively small number of shareholders.

Cooperative – 1. A type of catch share in which a group of participants is allocated a secure portion of the catch and collectively manage their allocation. 2. A group of people who come together to coordinate activities in some way.

Cost recovery – Partial or full recovery, by the government or management authority, of the costs of management, monitoring and/or enforcement of a fishery.

Derby-style fishing (syn. Olympic-style fishing (Canada), Race for fish) – Fishing conditions characterized by short seasons and severe competition for fish, often resulting in low profits and harvests that exceed sustainable levels.

Discard (syn. Regulatory discards, Economic discards) – To release or return a portion of the catch, dead or alive, before offloading, often because of regulatory constraints or a lack of economic value (FAO, n.d.).

Dockside monitoring – The monitoring of activities taking place upon a vessel’s landing, including the weighing or counting of offloaded catch, biological sampling, and species make-up of catch.

Economic discard (syn. Commercial discards) – Fish that are not retained because they are of an undesirable size, sex, or quality, or for other economic reasons (16 U.S.C. 1802).

Ecosystem-based management – An approach that takes major ecosystem components and services – both structural and functional – into account in managing fisheries. It values habitat, embraces a multi-species perspective, and is committed to understanding ecosystem processes. Goals include rebuilding and sustaining populations, species, biological communities, and marine ecosystems at high levels of productivity and biological diversity so as not to jeopardize a wide range of goods and services from marine ecosystems while providing food, revenue and recreation for humans (FAO, n.d.).

Effort (syn. Fishing effort) – The amount of time and fishing power used to harvest fish; includes gear size, boat size and horsepower (Blackhart et al., 2006).

Effort-based – Privileges based on a percentage or absolute number of the total effort units available, often allocated as days, pots or trawl tows. This Design Manual does not consider effort-based programs to qualify as a catch share.

Electronic monitoring – A technique employed to monitor at-sea fishing activities, often consisting of cameras, sensors and Global Positioning System (GPS) units used to record vessel and fishing location, fishing activity, catch (retained and discarded) and compliance with fishing rules.

Eligibility – Individuals or entities qualifying for initial allocation or permitted to acquire shares after the implementation of the program.

Enforcement – Measures enacted to ensure compliance with fishery regulations, including catch limits, gear use, and fishing behavior.

Enterprise Allocation – A type of catch share program in which shares are allocated to a fishing company who determines the management of the shares. This term has been used in Canada.

Exclusive – 1. In reference to the attributes of a catch share program, privileges are assigned to an entity (individual or group) and are clearly recognized and defendable by law. See SEASALT. 2. A program or privilege that permits only assigned users to participate, thereby ensuring that benefits and costs due to use of the privilege will accrue to the holder.

Ex-vessel value (syn. Dockside value, Landed value, Gross landed value) – A measure of the dollar worth of commercial landings, usually calculated as the price per pound for the first purchase of commercial harvest multiplied by the total pounds harvested.

Export value – The value of fishery products exported to a foreign nation. Export value is often higher than landed value due to value-added processing.

Fish – Used as a collective term, includes molluscs, crustaceans and any aquatic plant or animal that is harvested.

Fish stock – The living resources in the community or population from which catches are taken in a fishery. Use of the term fish stock usually implies that the particular population is more or less isolated from other stocks of the same species and hence self-sustaining. In a particular fishery, the fish stock may be one or several species of fish but here is also intended to include commercial invertebrates and plants (FAO, n.d.).

Fish tags (syn. Tagged-based system) – A physical tag or marking placed upon a fish upon harvest, often used to monitor catch, ensure compliance, reduce illegal fishing, and assist in traceability.

Fish tickets – A record of purchase and documentation of harvest of a public resource. The fish ticket often records the species landed, the weight of each species, the gear used to catch the fish, catch dates, the fishery, the processor, the price paid for the fish, and the area fished (Alaska Department of Fish and Game [ADFG], n.d.).

Fishery – The combination of fish and fishermen in a region, the latter fishing for similar or the same species with similar or the same gear types (Blackhart et al., 2006).

Fishery information – The information needed in a fishery for science and compliance, which can be collected through various forms of monitoring and self-reporting.

Fishery Management Council (FMC) – A regional fisheries management body established by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to manage fishery resources in eight designated regions of the U.S. (16 U.S.C. 1852).

Fishery Management Plan (FMP) – A document prepared under supervision of the appropriate fishery management authority for management of stocks of fish judged to be in need of management. The plan must generally be formally approved. An FMP includes data, analyses and management measures (FAO, n.d).

Fishing community – A community which is substantially dependent on or substantially engaged in the harvest or processing of fishery resources to meet social and economic needs and includes fishing vessel owners, operators, crew and processors that are based in such a community (16 U.S.C. 1802).

Fishing effort (syn. Effort) – The amount of fishing gear of a specific type used on the fishing grounds over a given unit of time (e.g., hours trawled per day, number of hooks set per day, or number of hauls of a beach seine per day). Sometimes referred to as effective fishing effort (FAO, n.d.).

Fishing mortality (syn. Mortality) – A measurement of the rate of removal from a population by fishing. Fishing mortality can be reported as either annual or instantaneous. Annual mortality is the percentage of fish dying in one year. Instantaneous mortality is that percentage of fish dying at any one time (Blackhart et al., 2006).

Group-allocated – A catch share program in which privileges are allocated to a clearly defined group of people, often a community or fishing association.

Hail in / Hail out (syn. Hail program) – An approach used for monitoring that allows a vessel operator to communicate their fishing activity to a central clearinghouse. Reporting often includes commencement and completion of a fishing trip, location of fishing activity, and the intended point of departure and offloading of harvest.

Harvest – The total number or poundage of fish caught and kept from an area over a period of time (Blackhart et al., 2006).

High-grading (syn. Economic discards) – Form of selective sorting of fish in which higher value, more marketable fish are retained and fish that could be legally retained, but are less marketable, are discarded (NRC, 1999).

Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) – A type of catch share program in which shares are allocated to individuals or individual entities. Recipients are generally fishermen and shares may or may not be transferable.

Individual Quota (IQ) – A type of catch share program in which shares are allocated to individuals or individual entities. Recipients are generally fishermen and shares are not transferable.

Individual Transferable Effort Quota (ITEQ) (syn. Effort-based) – A percentage of the total allowable effort, often in the form of days-at-sea or a set amount of gear, allocated to individuals. ITEQ is tradable between eligible participants.

Individual Transferable Quota (ITQ) – A type of catch share program in which shares are allocated to individuals or individual entities. Recipients are generally fishermen and shares are transferable.

Individual Vessel Quota (IVQ) – A type of catch share in which shares are allocated to an individual vessel. Shares are attached to the vessel rather than the vessel owner and shares may or may not be transferable. This has been used most commonly in Canada.

Individually-allocated – A catch share in which privileges are allocated to individuals or individual entities.

Input controls (syn. Input regulations, Input-based regulations, Input-based controls, Input measures) – Management instruments used to control the time and place as well as type and/or amount of fishing with the view to limit yields and fishing mortality; for example, restrictions on type and quantity of gear, effort and capacity and closed seasons (FAO, n.d.).

Landings – The number or weight of fish offloaded at a dock by fishermen. Landings are reported at the points at which fish are brought to shore (Blackhart et al., 2006). Large Marine Ecosystem – A geographic area of an ocean that has distinct bathymetry, hydrography, productivity, and trophically dependent populations (FAO, n.d.).

Limited – In reference to the attributes of a catch share program, catch limits are set at scientifically-appropriate levels. See SEASALT.

Limited access (syn. Controlled access, License limitation, Limited entry) – A fishery management approach that limits the number of fishermen participating in a fishery, usually by issuing a limited number of licenses.

Limited Access Privilege (syn. Limited Access Privilege Program) – In the U.S., a Federal permit, issued as part of a limited access system under section 303A of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to harvest a quantity of fish expressed by a unit or units representing a portion of the total allowable catch of the fishery that may be received or held for exclusive use by a person (16 U.S.C. 1802). All Limited Access Privilege Programs are catch shares, but not all catch shares are Limited Access Privilege Programs.

Logbook (syn. Logsheet) – A detailed, usually official, record of a vessel’s fishing activity registered systematically onboard the fishing vessel, usually including information on catch and species composition, the corresponding fishing effort and location (FAO, n.d.).

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act – The primary law governing marine fisheries management in U.S. federal waters (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq).

Maximum Economic Yield (MEY) – The catch level that corresponds to the highest amount of profit that could be earned from a fishery (Blackhart et al., 2006).

Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) – The largest average catch that can be taken continuously (sustained) from a stock under average environmental conditions. This is often used as a management goal (Blackhart et al., 2006).

Monitoring (syn. Catch control) – The collection of fishery information for the purposes of science, including setting catch limits and assessing stocks, and ensuring accountability, including catch accounting and enforcing fishery regulations.

Mortality – A measurement of the rate of death of fish, resulting from several factors but mainly predation and fishing.

Multi-species fishery – A fishery in which more than one species is caught at the same time. Because of the imperfect selectivity of most fishing gears, most fisheries are “multi-species.” The term is often used to refer to fisheries where more than one species is intentionally sought and retained (NRC, 1999).

Non-target species (syn. Bycatch, Incidental catch) – Species not specifically targeted as a component of the catch but which may be incidentally captured as part of the targeted catch (Blackhart et al., 2006).

Onboard observers (syn. Observers) – A certified person onboard fishing vessels who collects scientific and technical information on the fishing operations and the catch. Observer programs can be used for monitoring fishing operations (e.g., areas fished, fishing effort deployed, gear characteristics, catches and species caught, discards, collecting tag returns, etc.) (FAO, n.d.).

Open access – Condition in which access to a fishery is not restricted (i.e., no license limitation, quotas, or other measures that would limit the amount of fish that an individual fisher can harvest) (NRC, 1999).

Optimum Yield (OY) – The harvest level for a species that achieves the greatest overall benefits, including economic, social and biological considerations. Optimum yield is different from Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) in that MSY considers only the biology of the species (Blackhart et al., 2006).

Overcapacity – A level of fishing pressure that threatens to reduce a stock or complex below the abundance necessary to support Maximum Sustainable Yield and allow an economically sustainable fishing industry (Blackhart et al., 2006).

Overcapitalization (syn. Excess capacity) – In the short-term, fishing capacity that exceeds the capacity required to capture and handle the allowable catch. In the long-term, fishing capacity that exceeds the level required to ensure the sustainability of the stock and the fishery at the desired level. Fishing capacity in excess of what is required to reach the agreed catch or effort objectives materialized by agreed target reference points (FAO, n.d.).

Overfished – State in which a fish stock is below one half the biomass that produces Maximum Sustainable Yield.

Overfishing – A rate of fishing mortality that, unchanged, will result in an overfished state.

Permit Bank (syn. Quota Bank, Community License Bank) – Collection of harvesting privileges in which certain rules and stipulations govern the use of the privileges and the distribution of benefits.

Public resource (syn. Public good, Common resource) – A resource that is held collectively by all people, often managed by the government on their behalf.

Quota – The maximum number of fish that can be legally landed in a time period. It can apply to the total fishery or an individual fisherman’s share under a catch share program (Blackhart et al., 2006).

Quota pounds (QP) (syn. Annual allocation) – See Annual allocation unit.

Quota shares (QS) – The percentage of the annual catch limit to which a catch share privilege holder has access to harvest.

Race for fish (syn. Derby-style fishing, Olympic fishing) – A pattern of fishing characterized by an increasing number of highly efficient vessels fishing at an increasing pace, with season length becoming shorter and shorter (FAO, n.d.).

Regulatory discards – Fish harvested in a fishery which fishermen are required by regulation to discard whenever caught, or are required by regulation to retain but not sell (16 U.S.C. 1802).

Scaled – In reference to the attributes of a catch share program, management units are set at the appropriate biological level, taking into consideration social and political systems. See SEASALT.

SEASALT – A mnemonic that describes commonly occurring attributes of catch shares.

Sector – 1. (of a fishery) A specific division of a fishery due to unique characteristics including, management regulations, gear types, fishing locations, purpose of activity, or vessel size. 2. (type of catch share) – A type of group-allocated catch share program, most commonly used in New England.

Secure – In reference to the attributes of a catch share program, the tenure length of shares is sufficiently long for participants to realize future benefits. See SEASALT.

Shareholder (syn. Privilege holder) – An individual or entity who holds a secure share in a catch share fishery.

Single-species fishery – A type of fishery in which fishers target only one species of fish, although it is usually impossible not to catch others incidentally (Blackhart et al., 2006).

Species and area-based (syn. Territorial Use Rights for Fishing) – A catch share program in which participants are allocated access privileges based on specific areas, but are required to stay within catch limits for harvested species.

Species-based – A catch share program in which privileges are based on the number or weight of fish caught.

Stewardship – Responsible management of resources for future generations, such as maintaining populations of target and non-target species, protecting wildlife, conserving key habitats, and strengthening ecosystem resilience.

Stock – A part of a fish population usually with a particular migration pattern, specific spawning grounds, and subject to a distinct fishery. A fish stock may be treated as a total or a spawning stock. Total stock refers to both juveniles and adults, either in numbers or by weight, while spawning stock refers to the numbers or weight of individuals that are old enough to reproduce (Blackhart et al., 2006).

Sustainable fishing – Fishing activities that do not cause or lead to undesirable changes in the biological and economic productivity, biological diversity, or ecosystem structure and functioning from one human generation to the next (FAO, n.d.).

Sustainable harvest (syn. Sustainable catch, Sustainable yield) – The biomass or number of fish that can be harvested without reducing the stock biomass from year to year, assuming that environmental conditions remain the same (Blackhart et al., 2006).

Tag-based – A system of catch shares in which a set number of tags are allocated in the beginning of the year based on an individual’s holdings and every fish or standardized delivery weight must be tagged to be accepted for delivery.

Target species (syn. Directed fishery) – Those species primarily sought by the fishermen in a particular fishery. There may be primary as well as secondary target species (FAO, n.d.).

Tenure length of shares – The duration for which an individual’s or group’s share is allocated.

Territorial Use Rights for Fishing (TURF) (syn. Species and area-based catch share) – An area-based management program, which assigns a specific area to an individual, group or community. To meet the definition laid out in the Design Manual, one or more species in the area must have a scientifically-based catch limit.

Total allowable catch (TAC) (syn. Catch limit) – The annual recommended or specified regulated catch for a species or species group (Blackhart et al., 2006).

Total catch – The landed catch plus discard mortality (Blackhart et al., 2006).

Transferable (syn. Transferability, Tradable) – In reference to the attributes of a catch share program, shareholders can buy, sell and/or lease shares. See SEASALT.

Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) – A satellite communications system used to monitor fishing activities. For example, to ensure that vessels stay out of prohibited areas. The system is based on electronic devices, which are installed onboard vessels. These devices automatically send data to a shore-based “satellite” monitoring system (Blackhart et al., 2006).