Discovering the Effects of Catch Shares on Fishing Communities Using Objective Indicators

Many stakeholders predict, debate, and argue the effects of catch share programs on people, communities, fish and the fishing business bottom line. Using an interactive, web-based dashboard, we present a set of objective indicators built around questions aimed to provide supporters and opponents with objective, neutral data and trends— without judging performance, effectiveness, or merit. Users can explore the indicators through graphs, charts, and narrative, with capability to drill down to a species/stock or community level.

The five-year Measuring the Effects of Catch Shares (http://catchshareindicators.org/) project has posted baseline and initial results for catch share programs in the U.S. Northeast and West Coast groundfish fisheries. Analysis of information from public, academic and private sector sources is organized to answer key questions about effects of these two catch share programs. Fishermen and fishing community stakeholders posed the questions at workshops. Although the issues raised in the key questions focus on the Northeast and West Coast programs, they have broad applicability to measure changes in other catch share fisheries. We use a collaborative approach to gather and analyze the best available data on economic, social, ecological, and administrative conditions and trends, before and during the catch share programs.