Catch shares: New hope for fisheries

From Maine to California and the Gulf of Mexico to Alaska, commercial fishing is part of America's heritage. But its future is far from certain. If something doesn't change, we'll see more fisheries closed and fishing seasons cut back.

It's already happening. Today, important fisheries in the U.S are overfished or undergoing overfishing. It's time to recognize that the way the government manages fish stocks just hasn't worked, for fish or for fishermen.

The way forward: Catch shares

We need catch shares, an innovative approach that helps fish and fishermen rebuild, recover and renew. Under catch share management:

• Managers set a scientifically-determined catch limit.
• The privilege to harvest a given percentage of the catch limit is granted to an individual, a group, or a community.
• Fishermen are held accountable for fishing only their given percentage in exchange for this secure access to the fishery.

With catch shares, fishermen have a real investment in sustainability – because if the stock goes up, the amount of fish guaranteed to each fisherman goes up too.

Best of all, catch shares work. Find out more about how they:

• Bring back fish populations
• Save commercial fishing jobs
• Ensure fishing communities prosper and thrive
• Preserve our fishing heritage
• Attract new participants