South Atlantic Fishery Stakeholder Perceptions of Catch Shares: A Thematic Analysis of Proposed Amendment Comments

How to effectively manage fisheries has been a topic of much debate throughout the academic literature. Recently, many academics and fisheries’ managers have called for the implementation of catch share programs, a market-based solution to fisheries management. While many fishery councils in the United States have successfully implemented these programs, the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (SAFMC) has struggled. In order to better understand how stakeholders in the South Atlantic feel about catch shares, a thematic analysis was conducted using comments submitted to SAFMC concerning three separate catch share amendments. The study results revealed that majority of the stakeholders who were financially invested in the fisheries (fishermen and industry workers) were overwhelmingly against the catch share amendments. On the other hand, nonprofits were consistently in support of catch share amendments. Those against catch shares discussed the potential impacts on the economy and the lack of data, whereas those in support of catch shares more frequently discussed environmental impacts. This thesis concludes that SAFMC could benefit from increased communication with stakeholders and collaborative research initiatives.