Perhaps the best way to fight the decades-long decline of fish populations, primarily from overfishing, is to give the fishing industry clearer incentives to preserve them. That conclusion leapt from a recent analysis of the effect of “catch share” incentives by resource economist Christopher Costello and others at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
The researchers analyzed more than 11,000 fisheries over 50 years and found that those being managed using catch shares were about half as likely to collapse as those without catch shares. And when fisheries switched to catch shares, fish populations stopped declining and, according to some analyses, may have reversed course. “I’ll be honest,” Costello says, “I was really surprised” by the size of the effect.
The system of catch shares works somewhat like a stock market: individual fishers can net a designated percentage of the total amount of a species set aside for fishing annually. The cap on each fish type is adjusted yearly by the government according to how the species is faring. If the population increases, the shares increase in value, too. And fishers can buy and sell shares to one another.
Catch shares give fishers a financial motive to treat the ocean with care, because they are literally invested in the future of their quarry. Costello compares the difference between catch shares and traditional fishing licenses (which expire yearly) to the difference between renting and buying a house. “When you own a house, you have a strong incentive to invest in it,” he points out. “The fishermen have an incentive to grow the fish stock” by fishing responsibly.
Boris Worm, a marine biologist at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, who two years ago predicted the collapse of seafood as a food source by 2048, says Costello’s work is noteworthy but adds that catch shares will work better when combined with other tools, such as banning fishing in sensitive areas.
This article was originally published with the title Stock-Market Strategy Halts Fishing Collapse.
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18 Comments
Add CommentWe can only hope people will live up to the term 'human beings' before they destroy the planet. The analysis of codfish populations gives us little hope that people are, indeed, sentient and sapient.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMaybe if we all just voted Republican and went overnight from peace and prosperity to war and debt, we could just shorten the agony of being a failed species.
You people are such a disappointment. You are too stupid to survive. Maybe the next species to run the planet will endure. Goodbye.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWe can only hope people will live up to the term 'human beings' before they destroy the planet. The analysis of codfish populations gives us little hope that people are, indeed, sentient and sapient.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMaybe if we all just voted Republican and went overnight from peace and prosperity to war and debt, we could just shorten the agony of being a failed species.
are you a dolphin?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAs we rush toward 7 billion people on Earth, it's imperative that we take responsibility for our impact. It's very easy to be pessimistic, but there are actions we can take which incrementally improve matters. Catch-share is one of those. It's downside is socio-economic. Current fishers get a lock on takes, and it only works where there is an enforcement authority. But it is a program worthy of wide implementation.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisso if it really will be in that way,the noun of fisherman will be kicked out of the dictionary,and the former fishermen will just be the same as businessman.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisso if it really will be in that way,the noun of fisherman will be kicked out of the dictionary,and the former fishermen will just be the same as businessman.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisgood point! yes, It is always not easy to have a enforcement authority, which is the root of many bad things that can not be avoided.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWe can impose species, and catch limits all we want. But it would only be about 10% effective. This nation can't even enforce it's own catch limits, let alone impose and enforce them on the rest of the world. Just look at the endangered species act. There are groups that one can contact, that specialize in the sale of these animals. If you have enough MONEY, you can get one as a pet, or even go to special parties and eat them. It is a simple fact, greed is the controlling factor in everything.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisJapans poaching of whales is a prime example. We know it is wrong, they know it's against the law, but there is a huge amount of money being made from it. So they keep doing it, and world keeps letting them.
Almost every government is turning a blind eye, and saying " It's not our responsibility". So the poachers, and even some of the worlds major government officials are saying, "You guys just keep on arguing, and we will keep making money".
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe magic of ownership. Coupled with complete bans when stocks plunge to dangerous levels, ownership is a proven concept for sustainability.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe lesson is to support this. Write your federal reps. Write to your local newspaper. Email everyone.
Ownership values always help. But enforcement is necessary, including total bans when population levels reach dangerously low levels. Do your part, email everyone.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSound like a great theory but in practice it won't work. Just another big program!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis article seems to confirm what Elinor Ostrom writes in "Governing the Commons : The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action" (Cambridge University Press, 1990)...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisLet's hope the planet is sustainable. Because if one day we run out of resources, we are doomed to disappear on the earth.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI hope this world will become more peaceful and sustainable. If one day we run out of resources, we are doomed to disappear on the earth.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAllowing free access to the world's oceans is anarchy. It is high time the United Nations agreed to forming an international oceanic policing force. Then, (as around England until it joined the common market), fish stocks could be properly managed.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisA system exactly as described in Susannah Lockes article has been in place in New Zealand since October 1986 right down to and including the footnote by Boris Worm.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisFor info on quota system see http://www.teara.govt.nz/EarthSeaAndSky/HarvestingTheSea/FishingIndustry/6/en
For info on no-take marine reserves
http://www.marine-reserves.org.nz/