Posted May 1, 2026 at 11:01am by Lindsey Connolly
New CAFS Resource: Fair Shares? An Analysis of Catch Share Programs in the U.S.
New CAFS Resource
Fair Shares? An Analysis of Catch Share Programs in the U.S.
In the U.S., Regional Fishery Management Councils manage fisheries by determining an acceptable amount of catch per year. In some cases, these councils then divide that annual catch limit into shares to allocate to individual fishermen or entities. Catch share programs are often promoted as a solution to overfishing; a new CAFS report—“Fair Shares? An Analysis of Catch Share Programs in the U.S.”—discusses some of the challenges associated with these programs, such as the consolidation of these shares as de facto private property and the high barriers to entry for small-scale fishermen.
This report was written by CAFS Director of Research and Senior Research Fellow Emily Spiegel, Program Manager and Research Fellow Lindsey Connolly MELP’11, and former Staff Attorney Wendy Chen, with support from Summer Honors Intern Johanna Silva and Food and Agriculture Clinician Andrew Hockenberry JD/MFALP’25.