PANAMA CITY — Rep. Steve Southerland’s amendment to stop the expansion of a controversial form of fisheries management has passed the U.S. House of Representatives.
The subject of Southerland’s amendment is Limited Access Privilege Programs, commonly called “catch shares.” The system essentially uses a quota-like system in an effort to prevent overfishing.
Earlier last week, the House voted 220-191 to pass the Southerland-Grimm Amendment to stop new federal funds for catch share programs not already developed, approved or implemented for any fishery along the Atlantic coast or Gulf of Mexico.
“By gifting a select few with a stake of the annual allowable catch, catch shares amount to nothing less than a cap-and-trade management system that privatizes access to once open waterways,” said Southerland, R-Panama City, in a press release.
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