Executive Summary
The Modernizing Recreational Fisheries Management Act of 2018 mandated a study that considers the use of limited access privilege programs (LAPPs) in mixed-use fisheries. Under a LAPP, individuals receive a permit to harvest a defined portion of the total allowable catch for a particular fish stock. The focus on mixed-use fisheries in this assessment of LAPPs reflects the difficulties of managing different sectors that target the same species (and stock) of fish. However, the question of how LAPPs impact the overall fishery, including fishing sectors that are not part of a LAPP, but target the same species, remains. Specifically, what are the impacts of LAPPs in “mixed-use fisheries,” where the same species or stocks are targeted by recreational, for-hire, and commercial sectors?
Consistent with the legislative request, the report considers the use of LAPPs in the red snapper and grouper and tilefish (managed by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council), wreckfish (managed by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council), golden tilefish (managed by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council), and bluefin tuna (a highly migratory species managed by the Secretary of Commerce) mixed-use fisheries.
For each of the LAPPs in these mixed-use fisheries, the committee examined available data and analyses on the fisheries and collected testimony from fishery participants, relevant Councils, and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) regional experts through a series of public meetings. To provide context for the information provided, the committee conducted literature reviews of peer-reviewed studies that have examined or predicted LAPP impacts in mixed-use fisheries.
Overall, the use of LAPPs in the mixed-use fisheries reviewed by the committee shows little discernable impact on recreational and for-hire stakeholders; the outcomes of LAPPs in these mixed-use fisheries are similar to experiences in LAPPs that lack mixed-use components. The evidence base in the committee’s study of mixed-use LAPPs affirms a number of positive outcomes cataloged elsewhere in the literature while failing to provide a clear picture of many of the associated negative outcomes. Nevertheless, substantial data shortages limit the committee’s ability to robustly exclude the potential for some negative social and community effects. The committee’s
recommendations for the knowledge base and other matters are aimed at improving a management system that in many respects appears to be working well.
The committee makes a series of recommendations designed to address the economic, social, and ecological impacts for the LAPPs reviewed in this report, as well as for any future use of LAPPs in mixed-use fisheries. While the recommendations pertain specifically to LAPPs in mixed-use fisheries, many of the recommendations are also applicable to LAPPs in single-sector fisheries. In addition to specific policy recommendations pertaining to best practices, the committee also provides recommendations for how additional data, research, or syntheses of existing research could enhance the decision-making capacity of NMFS and the Councils when designing, establishing, or maintaining a LAPP in a mixed-use fishery.