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©2007 Cascadia Times
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A criminal investigation, political intrigue,
and a marine ecosystem in trouble 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Pacific council develops "catch share" system to protect and rebuild depleted fish
The California Current is famous for its catches of crab, salmon and halibut, but the most valuable commercial fisheries are the groundfish, a grouping that includes the colorful rockfish that sometimes live more than 100 years old, and Pacific whiting, a small fish that often ends up as surimi, or fake crab.
But these are rocky times for the people who catch rockfish. After a splurge of overfishing that peaked during the 1990s, a widespread crash of rockfish populations followed, and then inevitably, unemployment in fishing communities rose.
In response to the crash, the Pacific Fishery Management Council chose a slow route toward their rebuilding depleted stocks - reflecting its intent to cushion an economic downturn it had a hand in creating.
However, lawsuits filed by the National Resources Defense Council, Oceana and other conservation groups forced the council to rethink its rebuilding strategy. Conservationists pointed out that to continue overfishing would mean even greater hardships, and further fishery declines, down the road.
They also pointed out that the nation's primary fishing law, the Magnuson-Stevens Act, does not give council much choice. Rebuilding depleted stocks is the law, as the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a 2005 decision.
Today, fish from many depleted stocks are still being caught too frequently, forcing early shutdowns of fisheries, and still resulting in severe economic hardships for fishing families and coastal communities. Recovery for many depleted species is still decades away.
The Pacific council has been forced to slash catch limits, enact area closures and design a long-term solution that could rebuild the depleted stocks while keeping unemployment to a minimum. It has tried to reduce the unavoidable killing of untargeted fish and wildlife, or by-catch, and protect marine habitat.
Despite its efforts, large amounts of bycatch and waste still plague the groundfish fisheries. Last year, the Marine Fish Conservation Network, a national coalition of 190 conservation and fishing groups, said the groundfish is the nation's sixth “dirtiest” fishery, based on the amount of bycatch it produces.
As a series of events last summer make clear, discussed below, the fishery is apparently far dirtier than the conservation network realized.
In 2003, the council began work on a different approach.
A committee comprised mostly of fishermen and fish company executives developed what is known as a “catch share” system that, if designed correctly, could clean up the groundfish fishery. The plan would allocate a share of a fishery's total catch to individual fishermen, communities or associations. The council will launch a formal environmental impact study of alternatives in November, with final action a year later. It hopes to be putting a plan in place by 2011.