Tag Archives: individual transferable quotas
South Australian reforms (catch shares) to put two-thirds of local commercial fishers out of business
A petition to address “loopholes” in the South Australian Government’s Marine Scalefish Fishery reforms has been launched by stakeholders who believe the changes will render the majority of local commercial fishers unviable. With just four days until the Government’s licence buyback scheme finishes, the Marine Fishers Association (MFA) has warned licences are at risk of being bought up by corporate traders,, “Unless loopholes are addressed, over two-thirds of our local commercial fishers will be unable to remain in business and South Australia risks losing its local fishing industry forever,” the MFA said. “This has already happened in other industry species; offshore and interstate investors already control over 65 percent of our rock lobster industry.” >click to read< 13:40
Our coastal communities are drowning, largely thanks to tradable quotas and licences.
British Columbia’s coastal communities, long dependent on fishing for their livelihoods, are in serious trouble: population down, youth retention down, incomes down, investment down, infrastructure down, health and well-being down. It’s now almost impossible for young people to enter the fishery because of the high cost of purchasing or leasing the Individual Transferable Quotas (ITQs) attached to most fishing licences. ITQs are permits to catch a certain quantity of fish, and can be freely traded or leased. Coastal communities that used to have dozens of fishermen now may have a handful at best. The boatbuilding, repair, and gear supply businesses are likewise disappearing. How did this happen to our once prosperous coast? East Coast, best coast?>click to read<12:32
Offshore ‘slipper skippers’ and local monopolies target of new fishing industry study
If you have ever purchased fish at Fisherman’s Wharf, there’s a 50/50 chance the bulk of your money will make its way into the pockets of an investor, who may not even be able to pinpoint Steveston on a map. Such investors, both foreign and domestic, own government-issued quotas and licenses and lease them to fishers for a cut of the catch. Because profit margins for fishers are already razer thin, the extra costs of the quotas and licenses means young, new and independent fishers find it difficult to get a foothold in the industry. This regulatory system is being called into question by Fleetwood Port Kells Liberal MP Ken Hardie. Fishers have long complained about the ownership structure of licences and individual transferable quotas (ITQs), or catch shares,,>click to read< 20:08
Private Oceans: The enclosure and marketisation of the seas
Neoliberalism, the restructuring of global capitalism that has taken place since the 1970s, has made commercial fishing vastly more profitable for corporations and large boat owners. Fish and ordinary fishers have fared much worse. Our oceans face overfishing, habitat destruction, pollution and a biodiversity crisis driven by warming water linked to climate change, while government policies exclude thousands of ordinary people from commercial fishing. Private Oceans: The enclosure and marketisation of the seas, examines the effects of one of the main causes of this exclusion, Individual Transferable Quotas (ITQs), pioneered in the 1980s in New Zealand fisheries, and further developed in Iceland through the 1990’s and now an intrinsic part of the Common Fisheries Policies (CFP) of the European Union. click here to read the story 08:58
North Coast Fishermen Voice Concerns About the Proposed Individual Transferable Quota System
The United Fishermen and Allied Workers’ Union’s president met with North Coast fishermen today, to discuss the proposed changes the DFO plans to make to the salmon fishery from an open fishery model to individual transferable quotas. And that is exactly what is on Bill Smiths mind… a fishermen of 37 years… who says the bottom line is, he won’t be able to afford a quota system. “I can’t afford to buy other licence and I really object to paying somebody else to fish a portion of their quota. What most strikes me about this whole process, is how undemocratic and how unscientific it is.”- Bill Smith, Northern Gillnetter Read more@cfktv 02:15
