fishermen than are actually needed for optimum or maximum production. Because 

 of this excess, the idea of limited entry is receiving extensive discussion in 

 Florida and already has been initiated in some states. 



Limited entry is defined as limiting the number of fishermen or fishing 

 boats in a fishery. The object is to conserve fish stocks, increase the 

 income of individual fishermen, and possibly reduce market prices. The only 

 limited entry in Florida is directed toward eventual elimination of the food 

 shrimp fishery in the St. Johns River. Food shrimp production is illegal 

 there without a permit, and only those holding permits can renew them. Since 

 permits are invalidated when the holder dies or discontinues fishing, the 

 number of permits eventually will decline to zero. So far the number of 

 permits has declined from about 650 to about 130. 



The lobster fishery is being considered for limited entry. The Rosenstiel 

 Institute of Marine and Atmospheric Science of the University of Miami in 

 cooperation with the Florida Department of Natural Resources, under a Ford 

 Foundation Grant, evaluated economic advantages and disadvantages of limited 

 entry for lobsters. The study did not recommend limited entry (Austin 1978). 



Limited entry sometimes can best be justified when the abundance of the 

 resource is diminished by excessive fishing. Limited entry for economic 

 reasons (i.e., to increase the profits of the fishermen) is not generally 

 highly regarded. Number 5 of the Seven National Standards under PL 94-265 for 

 the Fishery Management Plans in the Fishery Conservation Zone is a serious 

 obstacle to economic allocation. Reluctance is expressed by those who believe 

 that the free enterprise system will solve the problem because if the catch is 

 divided among more and more fishermen and their profits decline, some will 

 eventually leave the industry (intentionally or through bankruptcy). The best 

 fishermen will survive and profit. If this happens before the population is 

 seriously depleted, a "limited entry" will have been achieved without govern- 

 ment control. This condition is only a temporary advantage because as soon as 

 the fishery becomes profitable again, more vessels will start fishing and the 

 cycle is repeated. For example, recent studies by economists Cato and 

 Prochaska of the University of Florida, have shown that for every 10 cent 

 increase in the price of a pound of shrimp, approximately 200 more boats enter 

 the fishery. 



Limited entry workshops were held in Denver, Colorado in 1978 and Jack- 

 sonville, Florida in June 1981. In general, those conferences concluded that 

 limited entry was but one tool for fisheries management and that although 

 there might be instances where its use would be appropriate and effective, it 

 is not a panacea and it would probably best serve as a last consideration. 



Another concern of the fishing industry is the competition between sport 

 fishermen (particularly those who sell their catch) and commercial fishermen 

 (particularly those with larger and more sophisticated equipment) for the same 

 stock of fish. For some species, the sport catch often equals or exceeds that 

 of the commercial fishermen (e.g., king mackerel and speckled trout). The 

 competition is greatest in bays and estuaries where small boats are seaworthy. 

 Because of the political influence of sport fishing interests, commercial 

 fishing has been eliminated or severely restricted in some areas. Some 

 commercial fishermen fear that if this trend continues, the effect could be to 

 slowly legislate commercial fishermen out of the business in nearshore coastal 



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