Fishing vessel buybacks using your money

The National Fisheries Service has a fishing vessel 'Buy-Back' program, whereby they use your tax dollars. Fishing boats are bought from their owners, in order to "ensure sustainability of fish stocks." The vessels are then generally destroyed under a mandatory destruction clause. However some are sold for "non-fishing purposes ... to non-profit organizations, research institutions, and others who otherwise could not afford to purchase a vessel. But the high costs of monitoring these transactions to ensure that the vessel does not eventually return to a fishery weaken regulated resale as an option." (nfcc - National Fisheries Conservation Center) Hat tip to friend Ron, who said, "it's a good example of how Uncle Sam screws things up."

Mandatory destruction of purchased vessels best alleviates the threat of exporting capacity to other fisheries and also helps to reduce the threat of capital stuffing in the buyback fishery by preventing inexpensive secondhand equipment from entering the market.

Fishing licenses are also "bought back" from the fishermen under License Retirement Programs. These programs are financed by the Federal Government.

Buyback programs reduce fishing capacity through direct purchase. Successful buyback programs achieve multiple goals. They improve resource conservation by reducing fishing pressure on fish stocks, they provide financial assistance to participants who choose to exit the fishery, and they increase the profitability of participants who remain in the fishery by reducing competition for the resource.

Buyback programs have been used in several fisheries throughout the United States and are being considered in several others. They have been authorized under various laws, including the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act, the American Fisheries Act, and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSFCMA). (more)

Where Have Buyback Programs Been Implemented?

Since 1976, buyback programs have been implemented in five U.S. fisheries, including:

1. Pacific Northwest salmon;
2. New England groundfish;
3. Texas shrimp;
4. Glacier Bay Dungeness crab; and
5. Bering Sea groundfish.

Together these programs have totaled about $160 million, including $80.3 million in grants and $75 million in loans. They have retired 2,907 permits and either destroyed or permanently retired 597 fishing vessels. The average cost of license and/or vessel purchased under these programs is estimated at $10,000 for salmon and small vessel fleets, $250,000 for mid-sized trawlers, and $10 million for factory trawlers used in the Bering Sea groundfish fishery.

The effectiveness of buyback programs is rarely evaluated. However, in response to a congressional mandate, the U.S. General Accounting Office recently reviewed buyback programs implemented in the New England groundfish, Washington salmon, and Bering Sea pollock fisheries. The resulting report notes that the long-term effectiveness of buyback programs in reducing fishing capacity depends on whether restrictions are in place to prevent re-entry into the fishery, whether previously inactive participants return to the fishery, and also on whether the participants who remain in the fishery have an incentive to increase their capital investment. (Click here to read about market-based management tools designed to eliminate such incentives).

My friend Ron says:

... the fishermen take Uncle Sam's check (read that, our money) and use it to buy a bigger, more modern fishing vessel that can catch more fish. This is frickin' ridiculuous! We pay a fortune for someone's old boat so they can go out and buy a brand new boat without seeking a loan and then haul in far more fish than before. That's saving our fish stocks?? Makes you wonder how they'd handle national healthcare or something, doesn't it? ;o)

I think "frickin' ridiculous" describes these "buy back" programs perfectly! I'm sure Brad at Azamatterofprinciple will be very interested in this story. Pork! Pork! Pork!

Comments

[Debbie]

No problem, Brad. I'm just glad you are doing OK. I thought you would be interested in this one.

[Brad Marston]

Debbie,

I am sorry I didn't see this earlier. I am up at the summer house and borrowing a lap top and stealing my neighbors wifi to get on the internet...not exactly the most effecient set up. As my summer house is in Gloucester, Ma which has been devestated by the decline in fishing I ALMOST have some sympathy for this program. But it once again comes down to the law of unintended consequences. If there is no follow-up and no oversight there will inevitably be waste and abuse.

Thanks for the mention. Talk to you soon.