The animation entitled “who owns the fish?” explores catch shares, and is critical of the system as it has led to access to publically owned resources belonging “to a number of private individuals who have traded, bought and sold these rights in unregulated markets….and has cut out thousands of smaller-scale fishermen.”
Catch shares are the term for the system of trading fish quotas in the USA. They are also known as individual transferrable quotas or transferrable fishing concessions. Since their inception, the value of shares has increased while the market has concentrated in favour of larger segments in the fishing fleet.
As an alternative, the makers of the animation, the Center for Investigative Report suggest that quota should instead be rented out to fishermen rather than being granted indefinitely. This would help to end the scourge of armchair fishers who loan their quota out and take a cut of active fishermen’s earnings, while also enabling quota rents to be used for control and enforcement measures.