Abstract

Catch shares dedicate a portion of a fish quota and/or a specific fishing area to individual fishermen, communities, or fisherman associations/cooperatives. Secure allocation of a fishery gives fishermen a long-term interest in the health of the fishery, and the economic incentives to avoid overfishing and protect habitat. Around the world, traditional fisheries management tools have failed to prevent unsustainable depletion; catch shares have provided fishermen the incentives to conserve a fishery as an asset to be protected for long-term growth. Over 40 countries and 300 fisheries use some form of catch shares based on either quota systems or territorial-use management. Recent analyses have indicated that the ecological and economic outcomes of catch share fisheries exceed the results of fisheries under traditional management. In Belize, Environmental Defense Fund is working with local partners including Toledo Institute for Development and Environment (TIDE), Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), fishermen, and community groups to innovate catch share systems appropriate for Belize and the Mesoamerican region. The theory-of-change for fisheries in Belize is that catch shares, when integrated into an ecosystem-based management approach, will improve management of fisheries in marine reserves. Catch shares can be used to encourage fishermen to participate in community-based management of marine reserves, including enforcement of no-take zones and other MPA regulations, monitoring of the catch, and data collection. In Belize, we are especially interested in the potential of catch shares to engage fishermen as partners in the management of a fishery, reduce conflicts among stakeholders, and improve overall management effectiveness of MPAs.

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