through a combination of licensing 

 restrictions and regulations. 



Immediately the state placed a 

 moratorium on the sale of new fishing 

 licenses — just as North Carolina has 

 done. Then the state devised a new 

 license structure. First, fishermen were 

 licensed according to gear, creating 23 

 types of gear licenses. But the system 

 was too complicated and cumbersome 

 for DNR and fishermen. 



Finally, DNR licensed 

 watermen according to species, 

 creating seven types of species 

 licenses. Fees for the licenses 

 range from $100 to $300. 



In the case of blue crabs, the 

 crabbing license allows a 

 waterman to fish 300 pots. And it 

 limits fishing time to 13 hours a 

 day — 3 a.m. to 4 p.m. For an 

 additional fee, a commercial _ ^ 

 crabber can fish an additional 300 

 pots per crew member for a total 

 limit of 900 pots. Fishermen can 

 transfer their license permits 

 among themselves at no cost. 

 Usually they are sold as a 

 package: boat, gear, permit. 



In the Florida spiny lobster 

 industry, fishermen played an 

 instrumental role in the design of 

 their limited entry system. Sea 

 Grant researchers Mike Orbach 

 and Jeff Johnson conducted 

 workshop after workshop as they 

 worked with lobstermen to 

 develop a system amenable to 

 fishermen and state resource managers. 



Landings of spiny lobsters were 

 constant, between 4 million and 8 

 million pounds yearly, but the number 

 of lobster traps in the water had 

 increased significantly. As in Maryland, 

 the catch per unit of effort was down, 

 says Jerry Sansom of the Organized 

 Fishermen of Florida. 



In addition, recreational anglers 

 and boaters complained about the 

 numerous lobster traps. They said the 

 traps were damaging habitat. In Florida, 

 where boaters and anglers number into 

 the millions, even a whisper of com- 

 plaint is heard loud and clear in the 

 state legislature. 



Florida legislators threatened 

 action, but lobstermen asked for an 



opportunity to offer a counterproposal, 

 Samson says. 



Florida lobstermen settled on a 

 certificate program that limits the 

 number of traps watermen can fish. 



"Fishermen derived a formula for 

 how many certificates each fisherman 

 got based on historical catch informa- 

 tion plus other factors," Samson says. 

 Each certificate allows a waterman to 

 fish 10 traps that must be properly 



tagged with the certificate number. 



Each year since the limitations 

 were begun in 1993, the number of 

 certificates issued has been reduced 10 

 to 15 percent. The number of pots in the 

 water has dropped from almost 1 

 million to 570,000, Samson says. 

 Lobstermen buy and sell the certificates 

 among themselves, but no one 

 waterman can own more than 1 .5 

 percent of the overall certificates. Only 

 individuals can buy certificates. 



When the certificates are sold to 

 fishermen other than family members, a 

 surcharge is levied and a handling fee 

 assessed. The state government collects 

 these fees. 



Fewer traps equate to less mainte- 

 nance, smaller crews, smaller boats and 



reduced costs, Samson says. 



"Last year was our best year ever 

 in the spiny lobster fishery," he says. 

 "We've reduced costs while maintain- 

 ing catch levels." 



Florida fishery managers will 

 continue to decrease the number of 

 lobster certificates until they see a 

 reduction in catch. Then they'll know 

 they've reached the equilibrium between 

 catch effort and sustainable yield. 



In New Zealand, the govern- 

 ment limits the catch of 32 species 

 through a quota system called 

 individual transferable quotas 

 (ITQs), says Lee Anderson, an 

 economist at the University of 

 Delaware. Fishermen can catch a 

 set amount, or quota, for a certain 

 species. The quota is established 

 by the government and based on 

 the fisherman's previous three 

 years of catch data. 



If the sum of the quotas for 

 all fishermen exceeds the total 

 allowable catch needed to sustain 

 that fishery, then the government 

 buys quotas back from fishermen 

 willing to sell. If too few fishermen 

 sell, then all fishermen take 

 proportional cutbacks. 



New Zealanders also have a 10 

 percent over-and-under regulation, 

 Anderson says. Fishermen can 

 exceed their quota by 10 percent, 

 but that percentage is deducted 

 from the next year's overall 

 allocation. If they catch less than 

 their allotment, they can add 10 percent 

 to the next year's catch limit. 



Although New Zealand made 

 adjustments in the quota system to 

 eliminate government red tape and to 

 soothe disgruntled fishermen, "there is 

 agreement by government and industry 

 that they do not wish to go back to an 

 unlimited system," Anderson says. 



Mid-Atlantic surf clammers learned 

 the same lesson, says Dave Wallace, a 

 New Jersey surf clammer. 



After the fishery collapsed twice 

 because of overfishing and overcapital- 

 ization, watermen asked the Mid- 

 Atlantic Fishery Management Council 

 for limitations. The council placed a 

 moratorium on new vessels entering the 

 fishery and established a quota system 



1 6 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 1995 



