Catch share systems are being encouraged and considered in a variety of United States (U.S.) fisheries. Scientists, policy makers, and stakeholders (including fishermen and non-governmental environmental organizations) have different views about potential social and economic impacts and outcomes of these output-oriented systems. Thus establishing baselines for trend analysis and identifying and evaluating impacts over time is essential to assess and improve such systems and determine whether intended outcomes are realized. The largest-ever catch share program (in terms of number of permits) was implemented in the groundfish fishery in the Northeast region May 1, 2010. This system includes decentralizing the management of groundfish quota to groups of fishermen called sectors. This management system is distinctly different from past approaches in a variety of ways. In particular, it relies heavily on the ability of groups, rather than individual permit holders, to work together (and in collaboration with councils and other fisheries managers) to manage the resource.
We hypothesize that the success of the Groundfish Sector Program is likely to rest in part on the strength of the relationships between permit holders including their degree of trust and collaboration. We also hypothesize that successful sectors will build norms and networks that enable collective action over time. The value of these relationships is commonly referred to in social and economic literature as social capital. The survey instrument submitted here will measure the changes in these relationships and the associated levels of social capital since the implementation of the Groundfish Sector Program.
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Social capital survey
SCSN SS 120712 Part A rev.docx
Social capital survey