Advancing fisheries sustainability and access through community fisheries trusts
This study reviews the emergence of community fisheries trusts in the U.S. as a response to rights-based management and quota consolidation. It provides a national overview and a California case study, highlighting how trusts maintain local fishing access, support small-scale fishers, and promote conservation. Findings offer guidance for scaling this model to enhance resilience and equity.
Subject Tags
- Community-based conservation
- Fisheries
- Policy, Finance, and Markets
Abstract
Marine fisheries have significant socio-economic importance for fishing communities globally, and a broad range of management systems are used to promote fisheries sustainability. In the U.S., rights-based fisheries management was federally implemented to align economic incentives with conservation objectives, and to facilitate long-term fisheries sustainability. However, the creation of transferable fishery access privileges also led to consolidation of fishery assets in some fisheries and regions, which can limit fishery access and shift the distribution of economic benefits. In response, some fishing communities established fisheries trusts, which are community-based entities that acquire and manage fishery privileges with the goal of sustaining community access to locally important fisheries. In addition to mitigating fishery access challenges, fisheries trusts can advance broader fisheries sustainability and community resilience goals. Despite the national footprint of fisheries trusts, no comprehensive assessment has been conducted to inform their formation, operation, impact, and challenges. This study presents a national review of fisheries trusts and a case study in California where five fisheries trusts were established in the commercial groundfish fishery. This review finds that fisheries trusts in the U.S. have grown in regional clusters in response to implementation of federal rights-based management systems (e.g., Individual Fishing Quota programs). Fisheries trusts in the U.S. maintain a primary focus on economic goals and secondary focus on conservation goals, but evaluation and measurement of performance requires improved information tracking and reporting. The case study illustrates how the development of fisheries trusts can address community-specific fishery access challenges and incentivize marine conservation practices.
Citation
Kauer, K., Bellquist, L., Humberstone, J., Saccomanno, V., Oberhoff, D., Flumerfelt, S., & Gleason, M. (2024). Advancing fisheries sustainability and access through community fisheries trusts. Marine Policy, 165, 106210.
Media Contacts
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Lyall Bellquist
Senior Scientist
The Nature Conservancy
Email: Lyall.Bellquist@tnc.org