Catch shares and management targets

In theory, participants in catch-share management schemes should have a vested interest in the health of stocks over the long term. Yet, it remains unclear

whether catch share systems improve fisheries management and stock status.

Dr. Michael Melnychuk of the University of Washington and his co-authors assessed 345 marine fish and shellfish stocks from around the world to determine whether catch share programs were better at reaching management targets than catch limits or effort controls. The authors found that catch share systems have some benefits. In particular, catch share fisheries achieve target catch levels more consistently. Another observed benefit, decreased overfishing, appears to be due more to the presence of a fleet-wide quota cap than to the   division of that quota into shares. The analysis, however, did not provide evidence that any of the management approaches resulted in increased average size or biomass of fisheries stocks.