Overfishing is emptying our oceans of seafood and damaging fragile ocean habitats that are home to countless marine species. Conventional fisheries management has failed — resulting in plummeting fish stocks and struggling coastal communities.
But there is a solution: catch shares. This innovative tool combines accountability and market incentives and has been proven to:
- reverse declines in fish populations;
- increase per-boat revenues;
- dramatically reduce bycatch (non-targeted species thrown overboard dying); and
- reward the use of environmentally better fishing practices.
Catch shares include scientifically established limits, and they can work together with other important tools like marine reserves to build healthy oceans.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) now strongly supports catch shares as a highly effective fisheries management tool, giving us even greater momentum to reform fisheries here in the U.S. and in neighboring countries.
Breakthrough: Saving unique underwater habitat
Thanks to the decade-long efforts of EDF, the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council voted to protect a vast expanse of deepwater coral — a reef covering 25,000 square miles along the coasts of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. Situated 1,000 feet below the ocean’s surface, the reef is thought to be the world’s oldest and largest deepwater coral ecosystem.
Home to countless marine species, many yet undiscovered, this veritable wonderland holds vast potential to enhance our understanding of oceans and sea life. The new management plan strikes an innovative balance — protecting critical habitat while allowing fishermen to maintain traditional fishing grounds through “allowable gear zones.” These designated areas have been carefully mapped to provide golden crab and royal red shrimp fisherman access while protecting the reef’s majestic mountains and pinnacles from harm.
Success story: New hope for New England fisheries
New England fish stocks were once so abundant, colonial fisherman bragged that fish could be pulled from the water by the basketful. Today, cod populations and other important fish are a fraction of their historic levels. Frustrated by the failure of conventional management practices to revive their iconic 400-year-old fishery, the New England Fisheries Council looked for new solutions.
After two years of planning and negotiations, the fisheries council voted unanimously to adopt a sector catch shares system. So many fishermen opted in that 90 percent of the available fish will be under catch shares in the next year. The approved plan allows fisherman to create cooperatives that are allotted an annual fishing quota.
With a long-term financial interest in a percentage of the catch, co-ops have strong incentives to ensure the health and viability of fish stocks. Catch shares also give fishermen the flexibility to determine when to fish, allowing them to avoid dangerous weather and other unfavorable conditions.
Goals for 2010
Expanding catch shares in the U.S. Working with fishermen, fishery managers and stakeholders on catch share options will remain a top priority in 2010, with a goal of expanding catch shares to more than 100 species of fish.
Recreational fishing is in trouble too — in many places the management doesn’t work well for fishermen or for the oceans. EDF will expand our outreach to recreational fisheries to find solutions to the problems that tour boats and private anglers face.
As the nation’s leading advocate for catch shares, EDF will help ensure that NOAA has the necessary resources — $50 million in federal funding — to help fishermen and managers design and implement catch shares.
Taking catch shares international. EDF has pioneered how to design catch shares that work for the unique challenges of reviving many U.S. fisheries, but since many of the most severe cases of overfishing occur outside of U.S. waters, international engagement is essential to solving the problem.
EDF is reaching out to fishery regulators and fishermen in Mexico, Belize and Cuba to extend the success of catch shares to neighboring nations whose coastal communities have been hard hit by overfishing. Working in cooperation with fishermen, each nation’s local organizations and government regulators, we will work to establish new catch shares that help revitalize the fisheries that are important to people and ecosystems along the Mesoamerican Reef and in the Gulf of California.
Protecting coral reefs. Coral reefs are rich ecosystems that countless species of fish rely on to protect and feed their young. EDF’s work to restore fishing stocks cannot succeed without the protection of precious coral habitat. The health of many reefs is already in jeopardy becaues of rising sea temperatures and ocean pollution. But also trade in ornamental coral species is rapidly accelerating their decline.
EDF’s scientists and researchers will work to document and raise awareness of this widespread problem and pressure lawmakers and the international community to end unsustainable trade in coral species.