In 1995, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, a federal group with appointees drawn largely from the industry, imposed radical reforms. For the first time, vessel owners would receive quota shares for halibut and black cod that could be fished each year or sold for what the market would bear.

Crew members were not awarded shares.

Critics decried the quota system as an inequitable privatizing of a public resource. They said it would shut newcomers out of the fishery, or take away dollars the government might have earned by leasing out rather than giving away fishing rights.

Others said the quota shares were a just reward for years spent fishing for halibut and would give the remaining vessel owners the opportunity to fish in a safer, more leisurely fashion and produce a higher-quality product.

A federal study showed that fishery safety improved greatly under the new system. Fish quality also improved as crews took more time to clean, dress and then quickly ice the catch. Prices rose as fish moved onto the market over a period of months rather than swamping buyers after a short season.

Gjerde and other schooner skippers were big winners. Today, most schooner skippers hold shares of black cod and halibut worth $2 million to $6 million, according to industry officials.

But there is a limited market for these shares. Most shares can only be sold to other qualified fishermen. These rules were crafted to keep the shares out of the hands of investors with no connection to the fishery.

Even heirs of fishermen can't hold onto the shares unless they, too, venture out to sea. That means that Gjerde's two children, a daughter who works as a paralegal and another daughter now raising children, couldn't keep the shares without a big change in lifestyle.

Read the complete story at The Seattle Times.