The management system used for Alaskan halibut and other Pacific fisheries could help restore healthy fish populations and make fishing more profitable if widely adopted, according to new study published in the latest issue of Marine Policy.
Researchers found "catch shares," which assign a specific amount of the total allowable catch to a fisherman or group of fishermen, are more effective than collective catch limits at averting overfishing and destructive fishing practices.
Study co-author Kate Bonzon, who works for the Environmental Defense Fund, compares fishing management strategies to a parent's handling of the situation that unfolds after a pinata's broken at a child's birthday party. Traditional fisheries management — in which fishermen are constrained only by rules regulating boat size, gear type and calendar date — is analogous to a parent trying to slow a candy rush by insisting each child only use one hand.
If a parent was to use the catch share approach, Bonzon says, he or she would say, "You can each get 10 pieces of candy. You have to stay within your limit or find someone willing to give you candy. Go after sugary candy, go after chocolate candy, go after whatever you like." Bonzon says the strategy would result in children behaving less frantically, a scenario that exactly mirrors what happens at sea.
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