The state-level permits banks should not end up being competitive with these community-based banks in ways that weaken them; that would be a bad outcome. At the same time, there is a critical role that a state permit bank could play. First, not every fishing community will have the capacity or desire to develop a community-based permit bank, and the benefits of such a tool should be available to all small-scale fishermen and fishing communities. All small-scale fishermen should have access to this subsidized quota.
Second, we see these state-led permit banks as having a critical role in ensuring that young fishermen can get into the fishery through the traditional sweat equity approach. We don’t want to see a system like some of the early catch share programs elsewhere where hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars were necessary to “buy into” a fishery. A young person in New England ought to be able to get into fishing without being born into it or having to mortgage his or her future.
Finally, we don’t think that the states should have to buy the quota for these entrant-level access programs in all cases. After all, this is a public resource and the state and federal managers should have the flexibility to allocate quota to these programs without having to go into the market to purchase it from current fishermen. Quota for entrant-level access programs could come from the increased quota that will be made available to fishery participants as fish populations rebuild and more fish can be caught without endangering the resource. Access to capital, whether private, public or philanthropic, shouldn’t be the only criteria that defines who gets to fish in the future.
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