Unalaska, AK – A new study in Science shows that catch share systems, like those used to manage crab and halibut, can prevent the collapse of fisheries. University of California economist Christopher Costello and his colleagues compared fisheries around the world, only one percent of which use catch share management systems.

"The ones that use catch shares are dramatically less prone to collapse than the rest of the fisheries. And what's more, I guess the secondary finding is that the longer a fishery uses a catch share, the less likely a future collapse."

The research supports the theory that giving fishermen property rights over the fish for a long period of time gives them incentive to protect the stock.

"It's sort of like if you own stock in a corporation, you wouldn't want that corporation to only look after its' short term property and interests," explained Costello. "You'd want it to look after it's long term profitability and that would maximize the value of the company and therefore the value of your shares."

The system has the benefit of stretching out fishing seasons--fishermen no longer have to rush to catch as many fish as possible--but opponents of the system say it makes it harder for new people to enter the fisheries. Costello argues that the system increases the value of a fishery and provides economic collateral for people to buy in.

"One of the things you find when you look around the world at places that have implemented these things is that banks are increasingly more willing to loan money with the catch shares themselves as collateral."

The study showed that the system also helps fishermen avoid bycatch because they have more time to target specific species. But catch share systems are not all the same and are not interchangeable.

"There are lots of different ways to fine tune these catch share systems and you want to think really carefully about what the objectives are, what the details of the biology of the species and the needs of the community are as you're designing them," Costello said. "But if designed well then they have really strong potential to benefit fishermen and to benefit the fishery as a whole in the long run."

The full report is in the September 19th issue of Science.