Pacific Coast Groundfish Trawl – A Transition from Trip Limits to Catch Shares

In January 2011, a new catch share program was implemented for the West Coast groundfish trawl fishery, which includes a bottom trawl groundfish-targeted fishery and midwater trawl fisheries targeting Pacific whiting.  There are over 90 species of groundfish managed under the Pacific Fishery Management Council’s West Coast groundfish fishery management plan and, in recent years, the trawl fishery has struggled to access healthier stocks as it has been constrained by measures to protect and rebuild overfished rockfish species.  It took over seven years to develop and approve the components of this catch share program, which include fairly stringent conservation and management measures to reduce bycatch and account for catch, and new monitoring requirements.