Review of the Wreckfish Individual Transferable Quota Program of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) is required by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to review the Wreckfish ITQ program every five to seven years. The Council initially reviewed the program in 2009. This review is the first subsequent review. This review examines how the Wreckfish ITQ program has changed between the baseline time period (2009/2010 – 2011/2012 fishing years) and the review time period (2012/2013 – 2016/2017 fishing years) with respect to various social, economic, biological, and administrative factors, and offers conclusions and recommended changes to the program based on the findings. Data and information contained in this report were obtained from a variety of sources, including, but not limited to peer-reviewed literature, the Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) coastal logbook program, SEFSC Accumulated Landings System (ALS), and National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health. Review of the program was conducted in accordance of the Guidance for Conducting Review of Catch Share Programs procedural directive. Analyses were broken down into several elements including: Data collection and reporting; Biological, Economic, and Social Environment; Allocations, Transferability and caps; Eligibility, Participation, and New entrants; Catch and sustainability; Monitoring and enforcement; Safety at Sea; Administration and Cost recovery, and Duration of privileges and subsequent distributions. In addition, this review highlights recommendations provided by the Council, the Wreckfish Shareholders; Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC), SSC’s Socio-Economic Panel, and Council’s Advisory Panels. In general, the program has been relatively successful in achieving its stated objectives, although there is still room for further improvement, particularly with respect to confidentiality and related constraints; moving away from a coupon-based program to an electronic one; cost recovery; wreckfish permit requirement; allocation issues; offloading sites and times; and economic data collection. 2019 Award Number FNA10NMF4410012 NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) SEFSC (Southeast Fisheries Science Center) Submitted Public Domain 1862