In most catch-share programs, the industry tends to consolidate into fewer vessels, as some fishermen sell their quotas to competitors and cash out of the business. That anticipated contraction has led to objections by one fishing group that contended that it would turn fishermen into the equivalent of "sharecroppers" working for a plantation.
The new management plan also will allow the Nature Conservancy, which has bought a number of these fishing permits in Morro Bay and Half Moon Bay, to switch to a different type of fishing gear that is less destructive than dragging nets across the rocky seafloor. Few commercial boats trawl the bottom for fish in Southern California waters because the stocks are so depleted.
