How does PFMC use catch shares or IFQs?

• A. They allocate quotas to fleets to maximize catch per vessel.
• B. They ban fishing communities from trading quotas.
• C. They limit gear types to control bycatch.
• D. They allocate quotas to individuals or entities, allowing more efficient harvest control and reduced bycatch.

Answer: (D)

Catch shares, or individual fishing quotas, create property rights in a fishery by dividing the total allowable catch among individual fishers or entities for a specific period. These quotas can often be traded, which means the rights to harvest can move to those who can use them most efficiently. This setup encourages longer-term planning and steadier fishing effort rather than a frantic “race to the season’s end.” Because each holder’s incentive is tied to the value of their quota, there’s a built-in motivation to avoid waste and to target fishing more carefully, which helps reduce bycatch—the unintended catching of non-target species—since discarding or accidentally catching protected species quickly consumes their quota. In short, allocating quotas to individuals or entities creates a controlled, market-based harvest system that improves overall harvest efficiency and lowers bycatch.

Choices that talk about maximizing catch per vessel, banning quota trading, or merely restricting gear types miss the essence of catch shares, which centers on allocating and often trading portions of the total catch to individual rights holders.