In 2010, groundfish sector management went into effect in New England, followed in 2011 by an Individual Transferable Quota program for the Pacific trawl groundfish fishery. For these catch share systems to be most effective, managers and industry need metrics to assess their performance and inform refinements, ultimately making the systems work better for fishermen and ensuring achievement of ecosystem objectives. The results of these evaluations will be useful to managers and others in guiding ongoing improvements to the two systems, and will inform catch shares in other places.
 
“We have international examples and research that demonstrate the ecological, economic, and social benefits of catch shares,” said Barry Gold, program director for the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation’s Marine Conservation Initiative. “Now we have an exciting opportunity to measure the performance of these new management systems as they are implemented on the water. With high quality and highly objective evaluations of the performance of catch shares over the next five years, we will learn whether or not these systems are working as intended and we can use that information, if needed, to mitigate unwanted consequences and ensure these systems work for fishermen and the ecosystems.”
 
The Foundation’s Marine Conservation Initiative identified MRAG through a competitive proposal process in 2010 to complete the first phase of this work, in which MRAG in partnership with academics and stakeholders in the two regions, including fishermen and fishery managers, designed an evaluation methodology. To inform the study and ensure objectivity, MRAG engaged a wide range of perspectives on the costs and benefits of catch shares, and also convened workshops with stakeholders in both New England and the West Coast. An executive summary of their recommendations, as well as reports from the regional meetings, can be found at www.mragamericas.com/2011/01/developing-a-methodology-and-indicators-for-evaluating-catch-share-programs/.

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