Where could catch shares prevent stock collapse?
- In a widely received study (Science 321: 1678–1681) Costello and his colleagues found that catch shares give better stock persistence and higher catch for fishermen. The conclusions made by Costello et al were further being supported by Grafton and McIlgrom (Marine Policy 33: 714– 719) where they suggested a framework in order to determine the costs and benefits of separate ITQ management in seven Australian commonwealth fisheries, and what the alternatives should be if the net benefits do not justify ITQs. This raises the question why we do not see catch shares being used more often. We explore at a global scale which countries would have the potential for – and indeed do fulfil the conditions necessary to implement such a management strategy.