Washington in July. "We wanted to let them know our concerns," said Hoskins. "Over time transferable quota tends to migrate into fewer hands. In bad years, small holders sell off quota - not in great wisdom, but in great need."

Congress Passes the Buck
Caught between opposing forces, Congress voted in favor of the moratorium on individual quotas in order to allow the National Research Council (NRC), a non-government scientific institution, time to study ITQs and make a recommendation as to how regulators should proceed.
The Council's final report, titled, "Sharing the Fish," recognized many negative effects of ITQs. It advised regulators to proceed with caution, but recommended that the ban on ITQs be lifted.
"Sharing the Fish" strengthened the stand of the nation's fishery management councils, which, while not advocating ITQs, at least believe they should be available to those who want to use them. At their annual meeting last May, the chairmen of the regional councils, which regulate fisheries in federal waters under the auspices of the National Marine Fisheries Service, restated their call for an end the moratorium on ITQs.
Quota management proponents claim that ITQs can solve a variety of problems. Ed Urban, director of the NRC study, noted that individual quotas eliminate derby style fisheries, where fishermen work dangerous weather in a race for fish, and glut the market.
The Alaska halibut fishery, one of three pre-moratorium fisheries in the U.S., implemented an ITQ program to eliminate derby fishing. "They now have a safer and more profitable fishery," said Urban.
With individual quotas, Urban pointed out, fishermen know how much of the resource they can take, and can make informed choices about when to fish it based on market and weather conditions. Urban claims that if fishermen have a vested interest in the resource, they will be inclined toward better stewardship.

A Tale of Two Senators
Maine fishermen, with only a few exceptions, have come out strongly against ITQs. They point to the experience in Iceland where ITQs regimes have virtually wiped out the small boat fishery, and Canada and New Zealand where ITQ systems failed to conserve cod or orange roughy stocks, respectively.
Barbara Stevenson, a fleet owner in Portland, Maine, who would fair handsomely in an ITQ system, has nonetheless advocated an extension of the moratorium. "ITQs would destroy downeast Maine," said Stevenson, alluding to the consolidating effects of ITQs.
Responding to her constituency, Maine's senator, Olympia Snowe, introduced a bill that would extend the ban for another three years. Her staff now concedes that it is too late to get the bill through in time to prevent an end to the moratorium.
"We now have to get this into a 'must pass' bill," said Sloan Rappo- port, a spokesman for Snowe's office. "And that means introducing a rider into the Commerce Department spending bill. Senator Snowe has already filed notice with the Appropriation Committee of her intent to file an amendment that would extend the moratorium for one year."
Anti-ITQ groups in New England are counting on Snowe's rider to hold back what they see as the beginning of the end for small fishing communities and independent fishermen.
"We need a champion," said Azur Westwood, of the Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen's Association, in Chatham, Mass. "And at the moment we're looking to Olympia Snowe."
Massachusetts senator, John Kerry, in spite of strong opposition from an apparent majority of fishermen in his constituency, favors lifting the ban. Kerry introduced a version of the Magnuson Act that allowed the moratorium to expire, but put a set of national standards in place to address concerns raised by his constituents and articulated in the NRC's report.
"Congress should not continue to punt on the issue of quota-based management," said Kerry. "Why should fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Northwest be forced to participate in dangerous derby fisheries simply because Congress is afraid to tackle this difficult issue?"
"Senator Kerry's legislation requires a three-fifths vote by permit holders in a fishery prior to implementation of any quota-based management system, such as an ITQ, a cooperative, or community-based quotas," said David Wade, of Kerry's staff. "This would empower fishermen. If New England fishermen do not wish to operate under quota-based management, they would not have to."
Kerry's bill includes a host of features that he believes will actually help small fishermen. "My goal is not to put sixth generation fishermen out of business," said Kerry. "We need to find a way to protect these people."
Among other things, Kerry's legislation calls for a quota set-aside for new entrants.
Wade explained, "Senator Kerry is calling for a set of national standards that protect small-boat fishermen prior to implementation of quota-based management. If no consensus can be reached on a set of standards, then Senator Kerry would not object to an extension of the moratorium until a set of standards can be agreed to."
But the EDF's Elizabeth Thompson believes standards can be set by October 1. "I think people can come up with standards if they roll up their sleeves and get to work," said Thompson. She claims there has been plenty of time already. "I don't understand why New England fishermen have the right to determine what the rest of the country does. If other people want ITQs they should be allowed to have them. I've had people in the red snapper fishery tell me that if they don't get ITQs, they're going out of business."
According to Rappoport however, Congress needs to extend the moratorium to allow it time to fully digest the NRC's recommendations. "We can then thoughtfully consider all the recommendations," he said. "Issues like foreign ownership, and limits on quota share need to be addressed."
Rappoport claims Snowe is taking the view of her constituency. "The commercial fishing industry has spoken," said Rappoport. "They know best what the implications of ITQs would be, and we're listening."

ITQ Failings
In early 1999 Greenpeace com- mis- sioned a critique of "Sharing the Fish" that claimed the NRC had basically failed in its mission of objectivity. The Greenpeace report, paradoxically titled "Scaring the Fish," argues that ITQs fail to conserve resources, or to meet any of the ten National Standards articulated in the 1996 Sustainable Fisheries Act aimed at guiding fisheries management.
In "Scaring the Fish," author Fred Jennings makes the case that ITQ systems have failed in their mission in many ways. Jennings contends that under quota regimes, such as the Alaska halibut fishery, highgrading, the practice of discarding lower value, when higher value fish are caught, becomes a problem. "Anecdotal evidence of highgrading is dismissed in 'Sharing the Fish,'" said Jen- nings.
Jennings goes on to list a multitude of what he views as shortcomings in existing ITQ programs, both domestic and foreign. These include conservation and socio-economic impacts, such as:
o In most quota programs, vessel owners are allocated quota, but skippers and crewmembers are not. Fishermen who have devoted their lives to a fishery, but never owned a boat can be permanently shut out.
o The push for efficiency leads to an economy of scale, increasingly larger boats, which are more environmentally destructive than small boats.
o That initial allocations are based on catch history and so, reward those who have done the least to conserve the resource.
o ITQs lead to a concentration of economic power and political influence that can subvert sound fisheries management.
While the NRC report does address these and many other issues, Jennings feels they have done so inadequately.
The NRC's Ed Urban admitted to some deficiencies in the Coun- cil's process. "The data is not good for highgrading," he said, but he defended the Council's work. "The academy put together a committee of international experts," said Urban. "We tried to look at empirical evidence and get all the pros and cons. Of course, it is impossible to get exactly the right people and that's why we have an open mike session at the meetings."

Privatizing a Public Resource
Gerry Leape, former head of the Greenpeace Oceans Campaign claims that ITQs turn a public resource into private property, "ITQs become private property in everything but name," said Leape. He foresees quota holders taking regulators to court for "takings" if management measures reduce the financial value of quota shares.
Urban agrees that ITQs do tend to take on the characteristics of property. "These resources are held in the public trust and harvesters are given the right to use them," he said. "It is possible that over time [quotas] will gain more aspects of property. I don't know how that would hold up in court."
Another problem is that while initial quota allocations go to fishermen and vessel owners, subsequent transfers can put the rights to resources in the hands of anybody with enough money to buy quota share.
Although recreational fishermen are against quota management, Bob Zales, Chair of the National Association of Charter Operators, wonders if recreational fishermen could transfer quota away from the commercial industry. "A lot of commercial fishermen think this is the cure all, it could be the end all," said Zales. "Essentially you could have commercial fishermen going out of business because recreational fishermen can pay more for quota."
Jimmy Donofrio, Executive Director of the Recreational Fisher- men's Association, does not want recreational quotas. But he thinks quotas in commercial fisheries could allow interest groups to regulate the industry. "They give the public the chance to buy back the resource and move it into fisheries with low impact gear."

Surviving ITQs
The prospects are not good for fishermen trying to hold onto a tradition that is not valued in most economic models. In Canada, however, where ITQs initially ravaged small rural communities, fishermen eventually banded together and began to fight back.
In 1996, Nova Scotians negotiated community-based quotas for their groundfish fishery, and Cape Breton Islanders actually expanded the number of shareholders in their snow crab fishery, which is managed under a de facto ITQ program, (see sidebar). Shareholders in Area 19, the west shore of Cape Breton, agreed to reduce the percentage value of their shares and allow 36 new entrants into the fishery. Fishermen in the Shelburne area of Nova Scotia have set up a community-based ITQ system in their region.
According to Evan Walters, head of the Shelburne County Groundfish Management Board, the Shel- burne area system allows fishermen the advantages of ITQs, without the problems. Fishermen cannot sell quota or lease it outside the community, and it has no collateral value, but it can be used to address bycatch problems. "If a guy gets too much haddock," said Walters, "he gets on the radio and trades some quota, so he doesn't have to dump. They're happy with that."
Nonetheless, the Shelburne fishermen stand to gain in a bona fide ITQ system run by Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and they would welcome one.
Understandably, the arguments around individual quota systems boil down to who will get the fish. Although Kerry and Snowe differ in their approaches, they both claim the same motive - to create sustainable fisheries and preserve traditional fishing communities.
Ted Hoskins claims the best way to do that is through local management. "Management has to be flexible and in touch with the ecosystem. The best people for that job are fishermen," he said. Hos- kins prefers the term "rations" over quotas, "because rationing is temporary. Rationing implies equality, and scarcity, but it also implies a battle we can win." He believes rations, or quotas, could work, provided enough protections were put in place for small fishermen.
Many people - such as Rod Moore, head of the West Coast Seafood Processors Association - who are not opposed to individual quotas, agree that an extension to the ITQ moratorium would be a good idea, in order to allow time to iron out the myriad of concerns. "If the issues can not be worked out," said Moore, "then it makes sense to have a one year moratorium to give time to come up with overall standards."
Sloan Rappoport is confident Snowe's rider to will do just that. "It's going to be a tough battle, with national implications, but I think at the end of the day we can get the votes. Even Senator Kerry may come around."
Whether the moratorium is extended or not, economic forces continue to push the fishing industry toward consolidation, and small coastal communities will still have to come up with a new recipe for survival. As Ted Hoskins said, "We have a lot of homework to do first. It'll take time."