Case Studies on the Effects of Transferable Fishing Rights on Fleet Capacity and Concentration of Quota Ownership

FAO FISHERIES TECHNICAL PAPER 412

Edited by

Ross SHOTTON
Fishery Resources Officer
Marine Resources Service
Fishery Resources Division
FAO Fisheries Department

Rome, 2001

Shotton, R. (ed.)
Case studies on the effects of transferable fishing rights on fleet capacity and concentration of quota ownership.
FAO Fisheries Technical Paper. No. 412. Rome, FAO. 2001. 238p.
ABSTRACT
This report, consisting of 16 national, or national fishery, studies, describes how the introduction of transferable fishing (effort) or fish (catch) quotas has affected the capacity of the fleet prosecuting the target fishery for which the harvesting rights apply.
The case studies include two from the European Union (the U.K. and the Netherlands) and for Iceland. Two studies are presented for fisheries along the eastern seaboard of the United States Seven accounts are included from Australia, two of which describe fisheries managed by the Commonwealth Government through the Australian Offshore Constitutional Settlement (the Northern Prawn Fishery and the fishery for southern bluefin tuna). The other five accounts of Australian experiences describe the (unique?) Pilbara Trap Fishery in the northern region of Western Australia, Western Australia’s rock lobster fishery and the fishery for the same species and that for abalone and pilchards in South Australia. In Tasmania an account is given for the rock lobster fishery while for New South Wales, a description is given for another invertebrate fishery, that for abalone. An omnibus account is given for the situation in New Zealand. In the Western Pacific, accounts are given for the Pacific Halibut and Sablefish fisheries in Alaska, the marine trawl fisheries of British Columbia and for Patagonian toothfish in Chile.

Keywords: Fisheries Management, Property Rights, ITQs, Individual Transferable Quotas, Fisheries Policy, Fleet Capacity, Fleet Capacity Reduction

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