My thoughts on ITQ's

A traditional fishing vessel.

A modern fishing vessel.


ITQ A Fisherman’s Perspective: The Monopoly Begins…

ITQ Wow, almost an international sounding and looking abbreviation but what does it mean? ITQ: Individual Transferable Quota.

I: Individual: I, that sounds pretty good for a fisherman. I, all of a sudden they are talking about me; they are including me, the fisherman in the strategy…good!

Let’s switch that around a little.

Q: Quota. Hey, the amount of fish I can catch. MY FISH when included with the “I”, even better now. I am being recognized! They are giving me a personal piece of the pie, great!

T: Transferable. I can catch my fish myself or I can give it or sell it to someone else. Hey, if I get busy some year, I can sell it to the next person; I can still make some money from my quota, Wow!


Hey, it all sounded great, so they bought into the program. Problem is as the quota decreased, fewer and fewer fish resulting in smaller and smaller quotas. The many sold to the few, everybody made a few bucks. Nobody could make a living. The number of fishermen declined and communities died. THE few are ending up with a monopoly.