A Guide for Federal Policy Makers
May 2006

Governing U.S. Fisheries with IFQs

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By Donald R. Leal

To the Reader

Finally! A management tool that benefits fish and fishermen! Individual fishing quotas (IFQs) allow conservation goals to be met without strangling fishing operations with overly restrictive regulations. With IFQs, fishermen share management’s goal of sustaining fish stocks.

Although their use may require additional managerial effort, IFQs have typically led to stronger monitoring and enforcement, better control of catches, and more reliable stock assessments. Moreover, as quota holders, fishermen are contributing their own resources to such improvements. IFQs are part of a category of arrangements currently called “limited access privileges.”

Despite their benefits, IFQs have raised a number of concerns in the U.S. political arena. To address these concerns as well as provide information on how IFQs impact fishery participants, fisheries management, and marine resources, PERC, the Reason Public Policy Institute, and Environmental Defense’s Gulf of Mexico Oceans Program have held a series of briefings for federal policy makers and their staffs. This booklet, Governing the Fishery with IFQs, is based on the third briefing.

The first briefing and the subsequent booklet, Overcoming Hurdles to IFQs in U.S. Fisheries, addressed three issues surrounding IFQs. These were: whether processor quotas are needed in an IFQ program; what restrictions, if any, should be placed on transferability of IFQs; and whether IFQs should be perpetual or of limited duration.

The second briefing and the subsequent booklet, The Ecological Role of IFQs in U.S. Fisheries, showed how IFQs can improve the health of fish stocks and the marine environment.

The third briefing, held on Capitol Hill on April 19, 2005, featured three experts who discussed ways in which IFQs can improve fishery governance. This essay, Governing the Fishery with IFQs, stems from that seminar.

We appreciate the financial support provided by the Alex C. Walker Educational and Charitable Foundation, the Bradley Fund for the Envi-ronment, the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation, and the Wilkinson Foundation. Published by PERC, the Property and Environment Research Center, this essay is edited by Jane S. Shaw and designed by Mandy-Scott Bachelier.