The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is intensively promoting and implementing programs which grant exclusive access privileges to public fishery resources to private individuals and corporations. Several national environment groups and the commercial industry are also promoting catch shares. Unfortunately, in mixed fisheries where there is a large and growing recreational sector, exclusive fishing rights proposals maximize benefits to the commercial fishing industry while ignoring the participation and beneficial economic impacts of recreational fishing. Damaging impacts on recreational fisheries are being disregarded.

“Recreational fisheries will not be allowed to expand because too many of the fish will be ‘locked up’ in the commercial catch shares. As populations increase and more people try to fish, the bag limits and seasons will be even more restrictive until the recreational fishery is no longer viable. The more valuable recreational fisheries will be strangled,” said Ted Forsgren, CCA Florida Executive Director.

The controversy over catch share programs, also known as IFQs (Individual Fishing Quotas), ITQs (Individual Transferable Quotas) and LAPPs (Limited Access Privilege Programs) is spreading as more fisheries are targeted for such programs. Gulf of Mexico red snapper is in an IFQ program. The Gulf of Mexico red and gag grouper IFQ program recently received final approval and legal challenges against it have been filed. The Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Management Council is looking at all the reef fish species for a new catch shares program. King mackerel has also recently been added to the catch share discussions.

“The average angler and governmental policy maker has little knowledge or understanding of these new programs. We assembled this Special Report to explain the programs, the problems, and voice our concerns,” said Forsgren. “The following are excerpts from the report.”

The NMFS has approved and is implementing the largest public resource giveaway in Florida’s history.

True. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has expedited the implementation of an IFQ (Individual Fishing Quota) program for exclusive access privileges for Gulf grouper. The Gulf Council’s Grouper IFQ program will allocate and grant exclusive right of access to more than 65 percent of all the Gulf red and gag grouper. This exclusive right of access will be given to a limited number of commercial interests. The magnitude of this giveaway is unprecedented. It is the largest public fishery giveaway in Florida’s history!

Commercial fishers argue that they, and the consumers they sell to, have a right to take grouper, snapper and other fish.

False. They do not have “the right.” Neither commercial nor recreational fishers have a right to take fish. All citizens have a constitutional right to vote and to bear arms but there are no constitutional rights to fish. All marine fisheries are publicly owned resources, just like ducks, deer and wild turkeys, and access to those resources is a privilege granted by public trustees established by law to manage those public resources.

“On the argument that the U.S. federal government is the steward of the resources for all its citizens and the commercial fishermen is providing consumer access to that resource, the U.S. is the steward of all its resources—sunfish, ducks, deer and striped bass—all of them. The concept that a private commercial enterprise is necessary to provide the public with the enjoyment of those resources by selling them to consumers so they can eat them was rejected by the federal government and state wildlife managers before 1900. There is no basis in any federal common law, any wildlife law or the constitution for such proposition.” Robert Hayes, CCA Legal Counsel, 2008

The NMFS says that an IFQ does not convey title, or ownership of the resource, to the commercial fishers. However, the commercial fishers will be allowed to take, sell, lease, broker and even bequeath quota shares. For this privilege the commercial interests will pay absolutely nothing.

True. The NMFS also claims that the IFQ program can be ended anytime. However, once the commercial interests are given the individual rights to millions of dollars of grouper and they sell, lease, buy or broker those millions of dollars of grouper, it is clear that the public, the true owners of the resource may never get any of those fish back. There has never been an IFQ program that has been discontinued. The NMFS also says the grouper allocation in the IFQ can be reallocated to other commercial and recreational fishers in the future; that is extremely unlikely after shares have been bought, sold and leased. There has never been any reallocation in any existing IFQ, and the council has thus far refused to include a provision for future reallocation in the plan.

Those who support the resource giveaway to commercial interests argue that recreational fishers do not pay anything for the fish either.

False. In Florida, recreational fishers pay more than $22 million annually for saltwater fishing licenses for access to marine fisheries. These fees are used for marine fisheries research, management and law enforcement. Commercial fishers pay only $3.5 million in annual license fees. Most of the fees are for the trap limitation programs for stone crabs, spiny lobster and blue crabs which were requested by the industry.

The Gulf of Mexico grouper recreational fishery generates nearly three times the economic value than that of the commercial fishery; however, the Gulf grouper IFQ gives 65 percent of the total allowable catch to the commercial fishery.

True. The recreational grouper fishery is far more valuable than the commercial fishery. A recent economic analysis (Gentner, 2009) established the annual economic value of the Gulf red and gag grouper recreational fishery at $223 million annually. The commercial fishery was $94 million. Florida has a major interest in the fishery because 96 percent of all the Gulf red and gag grouper are caught off of and landed on the west coast of Florida. The Grouper IFQ Program will reduce the economic value of this resource to Florida and the nation.

Recent amendments to the Magnuson-Stevens Federal Fisheries Act require the establishment of catch share programs in federal fisheries.

False. The Magnuson Act does not require adoption of catch shares or IFQs nor is there any deadline for adoption. These programs are being promoted and pushed by several national environmental groups and the current Administration.

In closing, Chester Brewer, CCA National Government Relations Committee Chairman stated that, “Catch shares are obviously a major focus for this Administration and we are concerned not only about the impact they have on recreational fisheries, but also at the pace with which they are being pushed into the management system. Catch shares are on a fast track and are a real threat to the future of a number of recreational fisheries and they are not going to just go away anytime soon. We are going to stay very active on this issue to make sure recreational anglers are not left out of the debate...and out of the fishery.”

On September 28, 2009, CCA filed a lawsuit to stop the Gulf Grouper IFQ public fishery giveaway. CCA states that the catch share program was “fundamentally flawed” and a threat to the recreational fisheries.

The complete CCA Florida Special Report – Truths, Misconceptions and Misrepresentations about Catch Shares and IFQs can be viewed at at http://ccaflorida.org/docs/SpecialReport-Catch_Share_and_IFQs_11-3-09.pdf