Agribusiness in the Ocean?
Interview with Marianne Cufone
Marianne Cufone is the Fish Program Director for Food & Water Watch. One of the main fish program campaigns examines catch share programs—or catch and trade—and the impact they have on our food supply, fishing communities and the environment.
Q) What are catch shares?
A) Catch shares are a way to limit who is fishing and how much fish can be caught. These programs in the United States have been designed to mostly benefit a limited number of private individuals or companies. The annual amount of fish that is caught in a certain area is divided into “shares” and usually allocated to fishermen based on how much fish they caught in a certain period of time. It is similar to the cap and trade approach designed to address air pollution – and fraught with similar problems, which is why we also call it catch and trade. For example, a commercial fisherman who has fished for years with a rod and reel and a small boat, might lose the ability to fish when shares are distributed to newer operations with huge boats that have caught nets full of fish. That smaller fisherman either has to purchase or rent shares from those who received some in the initial allocation, or give up fishing.
Q) How will catch and trade policies adversely affect our food system?
A) Eventually, smaller-scale, local fishing businesses could share the same fate as the thousands of small family farms that have been pushed out by big agriculture. If catch and trade programs continue to be designed in a way that privatizes access to fish, seafood production could mirror food production on land, with giant commercial fishing operations controlling the market. Industrialized fishing production methods could lead to economic hardship for coastal communities and ecological damage, as catch shares put smaller and more traditional fishermen out of business and push fisheries toward industrialization.
Q) Who is pushing for catch and trade and how are they being promoted?
A) The federal government under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has already enacted catch and trade programs across the United States. A large number of fishermen are in opposition to the programs, but NOAA continues to promote them as a primary way to manage fisheries in the U.S.
Q) What can concerned eaters do?
A) Fish are a public resource and access to them should not be privatized. Much like the concept of fair trade, we’re asking for people to support our U.S. fishermen and help promote fair access to fish. Visit the fish section of our website at foodandwaterwatch.org to find out how you can take action against unfair catch and trade programs.