Historic Decision Ends Fishing Quota Dispute | Newport News-Times

After five years of planning, tweaking, negotiations, and discussions, listening to more than 100 final testimonies, and poring through hundreds of comments, council members ultimately leaned toward harvesters in determining initial allocations under the new management program.

Shoreside whiting would go to an 80-20 harvester-processor allocation, but harvesters would receive 90 percent of the initial non-whiting groundfish allocation, with the remaining 10 percent reserved for an "adaptive management" program for communities to use "to adjust to" the new set-up. ...

The quota program - the first of its kind proposed for a West Coast fishery and the first multi-species one in the nation - would give each vessel a guaranteed "share" of the allowable groundfish catch for the year based on a combination of each vessel's catch history and size.

Source: Newport News-Times

Hat tip: Marine Fish Conservation Network

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