While the Bering Sea Aleutian Islands crab rationalization program is approaching its five-year review, the program implemented in 2005 is still under fire from the critics who first protested its approval in 2002, and the encouragement of catch shares as a fishery management tool is now the official position of the U.S. government.

Catch share programs allot quota shares as a percentage of the total harvest to individuals or corporate entities based on their participation history in a fishery. Advocates, who now include National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Director Jane Lubchenco, say the tactic promotes sustainability, economic efficiency and safety for the fleet while preventing overfishing.

Read the full story in the Alaska Journal of Commerce