Quota Share Emigration and Small Remote Fishing Communities in the Gulf of Alaska Halibut Fishery

Individual fishing quota programs are increasingly being used to establish property rights in commercial fisheries in the U.S. These programs are intended to promote resource conservation while improving economic efficiency. However, these rationalization programs are often criticized for their distributional consequences. In the Gulf of Alaska halibut fishery, there is concern that fishing quota are leaving small, remote Alaska fishing communities (SRFCs). In this paper, we analyze quota share transactional data from 1994 to 1999 and find support for the hypothesis that halibut fishing quota holdings are migrating away from SRFCs. Using the same data, we analyze the differences between buyers and sellers of quota to assess which factors contribute most to an individual's decision to buy or sell quota shares. The results support the hypothesis that characteristics of an individual's community influence the decision to buy or sell, and that these community-based factors may collectively be more important than individual characteristics such as one's age

Community profiles for West Coast and North Pacific Fisheries : Washington, Oregon, California, and other U.S. States

This document profiles 125 fishing communities in Washington, Oregon, California and two other U.S. states with basic social and economic characteristics. Various federal statutes, including the Magnuson-Stevens fishery conservation and management act of 1976 as amended and the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 as amended and the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 as amended among others, require federal agencies to examine the social and economic impacts of policies and regulations. These profiles can serve as a consolidated source of baseline information for assessing community impacts in these states.This project could not have been completed without the generous assistance of a number of people and institutions. The Northwest Fisheries Science Center, Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC), and Southwest Fisheries Science Center provided funding, staff time, and support services for this project. The Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission provided personnel and administrative support under a cooperative agreement with AFSC. The National Marine Fisheries Service Northwest Regional Office, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Alaska Region RAM (Restricted Access Management) Division, and Pacific Coast Fisheries Information Network provided data and advice. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, the California Department of Fish and Game, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, and the Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission provided an extensive amount of data through online sources and by filling special requests including advice and clarification when needed. Terry Hiatt and Patrick Marchman were instrumental in examining and organizing the data for analytical purposes, and Ron Felthoven spearheaded the Data Envelopment Analysis ultimately used in the community selection process. The University of Washington’s program in Environmental Anthropology and its School of Marine Affairs provided personnel and access to university resources. Additional personnel joined the project from anthropology departments at the University of Georgia and Oregon State University.Peer reviewe

Commons and markets: opportunities for development of local sustainability

Development studies have often evolved amidst a tension between the tendency to declare all forms of communal management archaic and in need of modernisation via privatisation and market integration, and the temptation to essentialise indigenous management with nostalgia while vilifying market impacts. Closer examination suggests that common property systems will not simply collapse under market pressure, or create defensive bulwarks to maintain market-free enclaves, but can strategically engage with market systems and global trade. This offers opportunity for the design of sustainable environmental policies. Ethnographic examples open discussion of an often dismissed possibility: sometimes the connection of small-scale societies to market systems has created a productive opportunity that has allowed these communities to survive.Peer reviewe