Like Capt. Kirk and his Star Trek crew Cape Cod fishermen are going, as of May 1, where no man has gone before — into the murky waters of sectors as a fishing management tool.
No more days-at-sea limits. Welcome (or not), individual saleable quotas, at levels that some fishermen say are too low to sustain a fleet and will hand a public resource to wealthy private interests. Other fishermen, such as those in the Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen’s Association, are embracing sectors (based on catch shares) as the way to save a way of life.
“Catch shares offer an opportunity for small boat fishermen to stay around, instead of days-at-sea, which are continuing to be cut,” said Emily Litsinger of the Environmental Defense Fund at a forum sponsored by Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies. “There is a multi-species catch share fishery in British Columbia that is successful. You’ll see more success meeting the biological goals while you’ll also have more success meeting the social goals. Just because it’s catch shares doesn’t mean it has to favor large boats.”