Examining Individual Fishing Quotas, Catch Shares, and Overfishing
Author: Coty Perry
Image Credit: Cinzia Osele Bismarck / Ocean Image Bank
There are many issues plaguing our oceans but one that is less frequently discussed is the issue of overfishing. Every expert has their opinion on why overfishing is such a problem but I believe that it all comes down to money. Economics are the center of everything and commercial fishing is not exempt from this. With 35 billion dollars going to the commercial fishing industry in the form of subsidies each year, it’s no wonder our fish stocks are so depleted.
The goal of this article is to identify how current fishing quotas and catch shares may actually be promoting overfishing. Then, we will analyze some of the changes needed to protect aquatic life and the underwater ecosystem.
What is an Individual Transfer Quota?
An individual transfer quota or ITQ is the term used to describe the limit put on commercial fishermen restricting how many fish they can catch in a given period. They’re permitted to harvest so many fish of a certain species per year, then they must stop. These quotas are provided based on the previous year's catch of a specific species.
It’s believed that these quotas are done with sustainability in mind, but how can we be so sure? Keep in mind, the government is pumping tons of money into the industry each year with the hopes of helping commercial vessels catch more fish. Why would they want to restrict the amount of fish they can catch when there is so much money to be made?
The Problem With The Current System
Three billion people rely on fish as their primary source of protein and this has done nothing but grow over the past few decades. With more people eating fish, there is higher demand. When there is higher demand (without an increase in supply), the cost of goods will rise and the cost of operation will naturally rise with it. All of this comes around full circle requiring the government to pump out these subsidies to fund commercial fishing operations.
Where does the cycle end? Do you believe that the same people responsible for subsidizing the industry are going to set fair quotas on how many fish these ships can harvest?
Of course not.
What this also does is creates a “race to fish” mentality where fishermen race to the water to try and reach their catch limit as soon as possible so they can “trade” for more quota. The process essentially creates an endless catch limit so long as they can continue fishing. Throw government money on top of that and you have a recipe designed to promote overfishing and negligent practices.
Since there is so much money to be made and predominantly no restriction, ships haphazardly move through the water harvesting everything in their path. They use dangerous fishing methods such as trawling to scoop up every marine animal that comes between them and the mighty dollar.
We hear about it everyday in the media, “plastic waste is killing turtles and dolphins.” It’s all you hear about. Do you know what we never hear about?
Bycatch…
Bycatch results in the death of 250,000 sea turtles, 300,000 dolphins, and 50 million sharks and rays each year. Take a minute to absorb those numbers.
These are keystone species that play a major role in the health of their ecosystem and the commercial fishing industry is wiping them out. Worst of all, it’s done with taxpayer money.
How Transferable Quotas Help (and hurt) Aquatic Sustainability
One probable solution to the problem is the token of transferable or tradable quotas. I want to examine both sides of the coin to see how this could help and also hurt sustainability.
Individual transferable quotas allow the fishermen to get some skin in the game. They essentially own a piece of the water as long as they have the means and funds to fish it. It restricts the amount of fish they can catch unless they want to purchase more quota from someone else.
So, if we look at this in the simplest way possible. No one is catching additional fish, you’re just transferring quota around so the overall catch limit remains the same.
On the other side, transferable quotas do create a race to fish mentality unless you implement territorial use rights in fisheries or “TURF.” This restricts certain areas to specific vessels, limiting the need to race out there because it eliminates the “time” aspect. Doing so should limit waste and bycatch because the fishermen will hopefully not act so malicious about their practices and be more careful since they’re not racing against their fellow ship.
Transferable quotas also create something called “wheelchair fishermen” where certain ships never even leave the harbor because they make all their money from selling their quota. This data is very hard to track and the technology of the commercial fishing industry is far behind the times making it even harder to monitor quotas.
Probable Solutions
I want to end on a high note by talking about some solutions to these problems. First, it starts with technology. There are companies out there putting devices on nets to limit bycatch and trackers on ships to monitor their location at all times. This technology is pivotal in revitalising the fish stock.
Beyond technology, we need to better hold the industry accountable for their actions. Bycatch quotas should be put in place and once the quota is exceeded, the fishery is closed for good due to poorly sustainable practices. It’s as simple as that. If a business refuses to follow certain rules on land, they’re shut down, right? The same should apply on the water.
We also need to reserve more areas of hardship and restrict fishing there. Conservation efforts are put in place each day to identify these areas where the population is hurting. Close these areas down.
Lastly, to stay on the topic of economics, we need to much more closely monitor how much money is circulating throughout the commercial fishing industry. With government subsidies supporting much of the operation, we need to monitor how these transferable quotas impact overfishing and whether or not they support or diminish it.