In British Columbia “co-management agreements” are improving the sustainable management of many commercial fisheries. While some fisheries have fairly extensive co-management agreements which outline cost recovery, joint and separate roles and responsibilities for enforcement, science, and management, most do not. There are a number of important factors which have limited...
Between 1996 and 2000, the Federal Government of Canada reduced the number of salmon fishing licences in British Columbia by 50%, from a total of 4416 to the current 2221 licences, through voluntary “licence retirement”. The total cost of this program was $273.5 million over 5 years. The purpose of...
The geoduck fishery in British Columbia has been managed by individual quotas since 1989. Individual
quotas have fostered a co-operative management approach in the fishery, which is implemented through a
non-profit society with membership made up of licence holders in the fishery. This non-profit society, the
Underwater Harvesters Association (UHA),...
Individual Vessel Quota (IVQ) management provides geoduck harvesters in British Columbia with a greater stake in
the fishery, by enhancing certainty of harvest access to the fishery. IVQ management has encouraged harvesters to become more
interested in the economic and environmental sustainability of the fishery and less in developing strategies...