Ecotrust's Fisheries Program
Overview
The Groundfish Fleet Restructuring Information and Analysis Project aims to bring the harvest capacity of the fishery in line with resource productivity.
Ecotrust seeks to protect and restore resilience in salmon and marine fisheries and habitats, fishing communities and triple bottom line fisheries businesses. We support the creation of new local organizations that contribute to fundamental changes in the way fisheries, marine ecosystems and watersheds are managed.
Salmon
As indicators of the health of social, economic and ecological systems, salmon are icons of this region and have been a critical component of coastal communities over the course of human history. Ecotrust has contributed key elements to a refreshed approach to protecting and restoring Pacific salmon.
- The first mapping of North American Pacific salmon stocks across their North American range (Salmon Nation 1999);
- A continuous prioritization for habitat restoration in the Pacific Northwest in our Whole Watershed Restoration Initiative;
- Identification of salmon refugia, or anchors, key areas in need of formal protection;
- Co-created the State of the Salmon program with the Wild Salmon Center, extending our stock status research to cover the entire range of salmon in the North Pacific;
- Initiation of large-scale conservation strategies in the Copper River, Alaska and the Skeena River of British Columbia
Marine
Like salmon, groundfish harvests in the continental U.S. have seen precipitous declines. Since 2000 these fisheries have struggled to bring the harvest capacity of the coastal fishery in line with resource productivity leading to the advent of catch shares. Ecotrust has worked with fishing communities to harness markets and influence public policies in support of community and ecosystem resilience since 1998.
- Organized a National Panel on the Community Dimensions of Catch Shares which released its report in March 2011.
- Issued 2010 report entitled Fair Catch, which laid out 10 ways the Pacific Fishery Management Council could better its trawl fishery catch share program to meet the economic, social and ecological requirements of the nation’s fisheries law.
- Creating the North Pacific Fisheries Trust, a revolving loan fund that supports the long-term ownership of fisheries quota within community-based entities.
- Implemented the Groundfish Fleet Restructuring Project to assess options for the reduction of fishing capacity from a coast-wide port and community perspective, in the context of important issues such as future fleet diversity, social impacts, and small business viability.
Key Objectives
Ecosystems: work in large-scale watershed and marine systems to conserve salmon/marine fisheries, habitats, and dependent human systems.
- Review and change salmon harvest and hatchery practices, protect salmon habitat and river flows by water reservations, and network the efforts of local and tribal organizations to sustain key salmon and human communities in the Copper (Alaska) and Skeena (British Columbia) watersheds.
Economy: work to increase the number and viability of community-based fisheries businesses providing more “stewardship” differentiated local seafood products.
- Create a national network of Community Fisheries organizations that are committed to triple bottom line local fisheries management and stewardship to strengthen business development and stewardship metrics that define a resilient fishing community.
Equity: work to secure the policy and management framework that allows fishing communities to retain access to and assets of fishing/fisheries.
- Seek to implement the recommendations of the National Panel on Communities and Catch Shares supporting fishing community resilience.
- Make loans and place New Markets Tax Credits that support the acquisition and development of fisheries quota, permits and local seafood processing by community organizations.
Collaborators
Aquatic Management Board
Bering Sea Fishermen's Association
Copper River Watershed Project
Ecotrust Canada
Native Village of Eyak
Pacific Marine Conservation Council
Pacific Salmon Foundation
Port Orford Ocean Resources Team
Prince William Sound Science Center
University of California Press
Wild Salmon Center
World Wildlife Fund - Alaska
