On Direct and Indirect Management of Fishing Capacity (Report‪)‬

The size and power of fishing fleets have grown much faster than production from capture fisheries over the past two decades. The increase in capacity has contributed to overexploitation of fisheries and significant economic losses. (1) According to the FAO, 70% of the world's marine capture fisheries are overexploited, fully exploited, or recovering (Garcia and Newton 1995). Fishing fleets with excess capacity may be losing as much as $54 million per year, losses that are sustained by government subsidies (Mace 1997). The problems associated with excess fishing capacity have spawned recent policy initiatives, at national and international levels, focused on managing capacity. The United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) addresses capacity in its Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries. Article 6.3 declares, "States should prevent overfishing and excess fishing capacity and should implement management measures to ensure that fishing effort is commensurate with the productive capacity of the fishery resources and their sustainable utilization." Article 7.6.3 adds that, "where excess fishing capacity exists, mechanisms should be established to reduce capacity to levels commensurate with the sustainable use of fisheries resources so as to ensure that fishers operate under economic conditions that promote responsible fisheries. Such mechanisms should include monitoring the capacity of fishing fleets" (FAO 1995).