Catch shares determined who could afford to fish, who had to buy permits, which species became daily stress points and why one boat’s quota problem could ripple through an entire sector.
The system also raised a harder question that still sits at the center of the debate: what happens when the quota system depends on science that fishermen don’t trust?
The shift that changed how boats could fish
Before catch shares, New England groundfish worked under a days-at-sea model.
A vessel received a set number of fishing days each year. What the crew landed depended on weather, skill, timing and what came up in the net.
“A day at sea is, in many ways, a very big unknown,” Cassie says. “If you’re going to go out there for a day, you could catch no fish, or you could catch a ton of fish.”
Catch shares changed that structure. Instead of managing time at sea, the system managed annual quota by species and permit.
Permit owners joined sectors that manage quota together. A sector can lease quota, monitor landings and make decisions that protect the group from overfishing.
“If one permit owner overfishes, it could shut down the entire sector,” Cassie says. “So each individual becomes liable for the whole group.”
Catch shares didn’t only set limits. They changed the relationships between vessels, permit owners and the people who had to manage the risk together.
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History followed the permit, not the fisherman
When catch shares came in, managers had to decide how much quota each permit should receive.
That meant looking back at fishing history. In principle, that seems fair. In practice, Cassie says it missed how the dock actually worked.
“That whole situation was kind of wonky,” she says. “It’s where some of the controversy started.”
Some permit owners had leased their days to other fishermen under the old system. Those fishermen caught the fish, built the practical history and depended on the work.
But when quota percentages were assigned, the history often followed the permit, not the person who had fished those days.
“At the time, a lot of people got screwed,” Cassie says.
Access to fish became something businesses had to buy, lease or combine across enough species to keep fishing.
Critics may still imagine an idyllic scenario with a single operator with one boat and one permit. But Cassie says that version of the fishery is long gone.
“We’re not in that world anymore,” she says. “It doesn’t exist.”
Cassie says owners were looking for a way out.
“It didn’t make sense for them to hold on to permits,” Cassie says. “They just wanted to be done.”
And once quota became the price of staying in, bycatch started deciding who could afford to leave the dock.
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The fish you don’t target can still stop you fishing
Bycatch existed before catch shares. But under a species-by-species quota, it became a business problem that could stop a trip.
A “choke species” is a fish with limited available quota. A boat may target haddock or pollock, then catch hake along the way. But when hake quota runs tight, the boat has a problem even if the target fish are there.
“My guys are out there saying, ‘I can’t stay away from it. I’m avoiding it,’” Cassie says. “They’re not fishing. They’re avoiding fish.”
That’s where catch shares can feel disconnected from real life on the water. Crews may see plenty of a species, but still face cuts because the system reads the numbers differently.
“How is the science saying a species needs to be cut 78% when I’m out here and I can’t stay away from it?” Cassie says. “It’s very frustrating.”
The frustration goes beyond cost. If fishermen can’t land a species because they don’t hold enough quota, low landings can make the stock look weaker.
“They’ll use the argument, ‘Well, they’re not landing it, so there must not be any out there,’” Cassie says. “We’re not landing it because we can’t!”
That turns bycatch into one of the biggest daily pressures in the groundfish business.
“Now, bycatch is our number one stressor,” Cassie says.
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When staying in meant buying more access
Catch shares changed the value of permits.
If quota gives a vessel access to fish, then owning enough quota across enough species becomes a business necessity. That can make consolidation look suspicious from the outside.
Cassie says she understands the concern, especially when outside investors enter the industry.
“That was concerning for people, because you get these outsiders coming in,” she says. “They’re going to try to make it corporate and not really get back to the fishing community and where the roots are.”
But she draws a line between outside ownership and a working waterfront business trying to keep boats fishing. For Cassie, the difference comes down to how a company treats the people behind the permits.
If quota costs rise and trips get harder to make work, owners can start looking for savings elsewhere. That can reach crews quickly.
“If you’re not making money, there are so many variables,” she says. “Outside investors are going to start to look at the crews and think about how they can save money.
“Canastra Fishing Co. will never be that,” she says. “It’s just never going to happen.”
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Why fishermen don’t trust the numbers
Cassie doesn’t reject quota management. She rejects quota management built on data that doesn’t match the reality on the water.
“I think catch shares would be fine if the science were better,” she says. “But our science is terrible.”
Her frustration starts with how managers collect data for New England groundfish. Cassie says the system relies too heavily on limited survey work, especially when those surveys don’t reflect what crews see during real fishing trips.
“They do two surveys a year,” she says. “That’s the only data input. But we don’t think the survey vessel can actually catch anything. That’s the science we’re working with.”
Cassie wants managers to use more information from vessels, observers, dockside sampling and cooperative research.
“You should be using observer monitoring, what they actually see out there,” she says. “That should be factored into the science.”
She points to the West Coast as proof that collaboration can work better.
“The West Coast works very well because their science is sound. They have a self-reporting system amongst their fleets.
“They say, ‘Hey, this area is really bad for this. Avoid it.’ And they all kind of work together.
“That’s never happened here. It’s a lot of scientists who are stuck in their ways.
“Europe kicks our ass, too. I wish we were using Europe’s way of doing things. It’s like night and day!”
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What has to change for catch shares to work
Catch shares changed who could fish, how boats planned trips, how bycatch shaped business decisions and why quota became the price of staying active.
Now, Cassie wants the system to better reflect the fishery it reshaped.
Better surveys. More cooperative research. More respect for vessel data. More attention to what actually happens on the dock before another quota cut lands on paper.
Catch shares were designed to protect fish. Cassie’s argument is that they also need to protect the people, boats and ports that understand the fishery best.
“Quotas were a smart way to try to control overfishing,” Cassie says. “But when you don’t have the right input, the right data, the right science, it becomes very constraining.”
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