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Commercial Fisheries: Entry of Fishermen Limits Benefits of Buyback Programs

RCED-00-120 Published: Jun 14, 2000. Publicly Released: Jun 22, 2000.
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Highlights

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the National Marine Fisheries Service's (NMFS) fisheries buyback programs, focusing on: (1) the extent to which the buyback programs have affected fishing capacity; (2) potential ways the buyback programs can be made more effective; and (3) NMFS' efforts to evaluate the effectiveness of buyback programs.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Commerce Before new buyback programs are used to reduce fishing capacity, they should be made more effective. To do this, the Secretary of Commerce should direct NMFS to design future buyback programs to: (1) restrict buyback participants from entering a fishery that has excess fishing capacity; (2) restrict the use of unused fishing permits in a buyback fishery with excess fishing capacity; (3) identify mechanisms to minimize the incentives to increase fishing capacity in a buyback fishery; and (4) develop performance measures that relate to program goals and broader legislative goals, such as the need to better manage fishing capacity and conserve fish stocks.
Closed – Not Implemented
While NMFS agrees with the intent of the recommendation to restrict buyback participants from reentering a buyback fishery, it said that it lacks the authority to do so. NMFS said that its buyback regulations provide for demonstrating how each buyback request complies with the statutory requirements in these areas. NMFS will treat buybacks under disaster assistance as though they were subject to these requirements, except in the most extreme cases of financial distress. NMFS also plans to develop performance measures for future buyback programs. However, as of August 2003, only one buyback program has been implemented that, in NMFS' view, would be subject to such performance measures. In this case, performance measures were considered during the development of the program's design. Although GAO believes that the portion of the recommendation related to performance measures should apply to all buyback programs, regardless of the legislative authority, NMFS did not apply it to two buybacks authorized by special statute and about whose elements NMFS has no significant discretion.
Department of Commerce Before new buyback programs are used to reduce fishing capacity, they should be made more effective. To do this, the Secretary of Commerce should direct NMFS to evaluate the results of future buyback programs against the performance measures.
Closed – Implemented
According to the National Marine Fisheries Service, should any future funding or other authority allow NMFS to design and implement any buybacks, NMFS will develop performance measures that relate to program goals and broader legislative goals, such as the need to better manage fishing capacity. Future buybacks designed by Congress to NMFS will be evaluated against appropriate performance measures.

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Topics

Environmental monitoringFishery legislationFishesFishing industryLicensesMarine resources conservationPerformance measuresProgram evaluationSalmonDisaster relief aid