1. K. Beadle
TURF-Reserves
Designing Effective Area- Based Catch Shares

2. What is a TURF-Reserve? Exclusive fishing privileges in a defined area
Usually allocated to Cooperatives
Accountable to catch limit or other controls on fishing mortality
No-take reserve provides additional protections for fish stocks
Territorial Use Rights for Fishing (or TURFs) are a type of catch share in which secure, exclusive fishing privileges in a defined area are allocated to groups or individuals
They are usually allocated to Cooperatives, a term we use generally to refer to any organized group of fishermen
The Cooperative is responsible for complying with a catch limit or other controls on fishing mortality within the TURF
In a TURF-Reserve, a no-take reserve is located within or near the TURF to provide additional benefits

3. Why TURFs? Enable local management
Compatible with other spatial management
Multi-species / ecosystem approach
Benefit local communities
Practical or accepted for some fisheries
There are various reasons people have chosen to use TURFs to manage their fisheries
Allow for local management
Compatible with other spatial management (marine protected areas)
They can be appropriate for a multi-species or ecosystem-based management approach
They can provide direct benefits to local fishing communities
And in some fisheries, TURFs may align well with people’s customs and so may be a more practical approach in these contexts

4. No-take reserves When TURFs are paired with no-take reserves
Fishermen in the TURF benefit from the no-take reserve
Fishermen are incentivized to enforce the no-take reserve
When TURFs and no-take zones are combined, there can be additional biological benefits for the managed species, and there can be benefits for fishermen
Fishermen within TURFs receive direct benefits from spillover from no-take zones
As a result they are incentivized to protect the no-take zone
So there is a two-way positive feedback where productive no-take zones benefit the fishery and responsible fishing practices and enforcement support the productivity of the no-take zone
K. Beadle

5. No-take reserves No-take reserve  TURF TURF  No-take reserve
We’ve gotten some questions about whether the reserve should come first or the TURF, and the answer is that the order depends on the local context
The no-take zones can drive implementation of TURFs as fishermen want to directly benefit from the closures
Or, fishermen who have a TURF may be incentivized to implement no-take zones
K. Beadle

6. How are TURFs designed to meet fishery goals?
We see TURFs all around the world, and they are customized to the local context to meet biological, economic, and social goals
And there are key features that we look for in the design to support sustainable fisheries, and these features are captured in our SEASALT mnemonic

7. Secure Exclusive All Sources Scaled Accountable Limited Transferable
A TURF-Reserve may not have all of these attributes, but the more they do have, the more likely they are to be successful
I’m going to walk through each of the attributes and explain how they are applied in TURFs

8. Secure Exclusive All Sources Scaled Accountable Limited Transferable
The Security and exclusivity in a TURF are what ensure fishermen have a long-term stake in their fishery
These features are what make catch shares inherently different from other types of management
Because they have long-term privileges, fishermen have a direct incentive to protect their fish stocks

9. Secure Exclusive All Sources Scaled Accountable Limited Transferable
It’s important for any fishery management approach to address all of the significant sources of fishing mortality
And in the places we will be working as part of the fish Forever project, fishing mortality will probably result from both commercial and subsistence fishing
In some cases, there may also be multiple fleets that need to be incorporated in to the program
So when you think about designing a TURF at a particular FF site, it’s important to keep this in mind

10. Secure Exclusive All Sources Scaled Accountable Limited Transferable
Because TURFs are a spatial management approach, it’s really important that they be appropriately scaled to the biological and social characteristics of the fishery

11. TURFs are scaled appropriately
Pescadores de Vigía Chico, Punta Allen, México
Japanese Common Fishing Rights System
TURFs can be implemented individually, or there may be systems of TURFs
And this spatial design can depend on a variety of biological and social factors
We’ll look at two examples of TURF systems that are designed to be appropriately scaled – the Punta Allen spiny lobster fishery in Mexico and the system of TURFs that covers all species along the entire coast of Japan
flickr/mikemedia
flickr/dmytton

12. Scaled
Scaling according to the biology of the stock is important for sustainability
There are two dimensions of scale that are important for TURF design – biological and social
Scaling according to the biology of the stock is really important for sustainability
If the spatial range of targeted species goes beyond the boundaries of a TURF, as shown here, fisheries management within the TURF may not be effective because fishing activity outside the TURF can interfere with sustainability
Additionally, fishermen within the TURF don’t have the full incentive to protect the stock because their good practices may be undermined by unsustainable fishing outside the TURF

13. Scaled Scaling according to social factors affects incentives
Scaling according to social factors affects incentives too
If fishermen within a TURF aren’t part of one cohesive group, they might lack the ability to organize and participate in managing their TURF
I will think about these two dimensions—biological and social--in terms of what I call a “functional unit”

14. Biological functional unit
A self-sustaining fish stock
I’ve defined a biological functional unit as a self-sustaining fish population or sub-population.
This unit reflects the appropriate biological level for managing the resource based on the spatial distribution of the species
It may be small for some species, such as abalone
But it may be much larger for mobile species

15. Social functional unit
A group of people with the ability to organize
A social functional unit is a group of people who have a capacity to organize and participate in managing their fishery
It may be a cooperative or other organization of fishermen; they may share common gears or fishing grounds; or they may all be from the same community

16. Sometimes design is simple
In some fisheries, the fishing area of a group overlaps with the spatial range of a stock, and there is a one-to-one ratio between the social functional unit and the biological functional unit
This is most likely to occur in remote areas where communities are isolated and for benthic species, such as abalone

17. Punta Allen Spiny Lobster Cooperative, México
The Punta Allen Spiny Lobster fishery is an example
There is a single highly organized cooperative that targets a single isolated lobster stock within an enclosed bay
This is a fairly simple design because the biological and social functional units are congruent
The TURF covers the whole biological functional unit
(Sosa Cordero & Ramirez Gonzalez 1993)

18. But most fisheries are more complex
But most fisheries are more complicated, with multiple overlapping biological and social functional units
To address this challenge, you can create networks of TURFs based on the most appropriate social functional unit for managing the fishery with coordination across TURFs to address biological needs

19. Japanese common fishing rights system
The common fishing rights system in Japan is a well-known example of this concept
In this system, cooperatives are defined geographically because fishermen have traditionally been organized in this way; so, while there are many different types of fishermen that may be defined as many different social functional units, the most appropriate social functional unit for managing the fishery was to have spatially-defined cooperatives
The cooperatives are allocated territorial use rights for all species in their coastal waters, including invertebrates and mobile finfish
DTPs
(Yamamoto 1995)

20. Scaled
Coordination between TURFs can solve mismatches between biological and social functional units
By having a network of responsibly managed TURFs, this system ensures that all stocks in coastal waters are managed responsibly
Appropriate biological management is supported by multiple coordinating entities:
At the local level, there are additional organizations of fishermen within cooperatives and between cooperatives that address the management needs for certain species
At the regional and national level, the government oversees management across cooperatives, and cooperatives form federations
Additionally, there are special committees to manage migratory species
All of this coordination enables opportunities for appropriate biological management even in a complex social system
(Yamamoto 1995)

21. Secure Exclusive All Sources Scaled Accountable Limited Transferable
A critical part of any fishery management system is ensuring fishermen are held accountable to complying with fishing regulations
Cooperatives are usually collectively accountable for fishing responsibly in their TURF

22. The role of Cooperatives
Share responsibility
Organize to fulfill responsibilities
Ensure compliance with controls on fishing mortality and enforce boundaries
Cooperatives often share management responsibilities with the government
A Cooperative’s most important role is to stay within the group’s catch limit, or comply with other fishing mortality controls
Cooperatives come up with various ways to stay within limits, ranging allocating quotas to individuals, to full effort coordination for all members, to establishing and enforcing appropriate fishing rules
A key part of this responsibility is ensuring that the Cooperative has systems for tracking how much each fisherman catches
Good cooperatives are well organized and have strong leaders, social cohesion, and clearly defined rules, roles, and responsibilities for their members
And it’s important to cooperatives to build this capacity to fulfill their responsibilities
K. Beadle

23. The role of Cooperatives
Share responsibility
Organize to fulfill responsibilities
Ensure compliance with controls on fishing mortality and enforce boundaries
In addition to ensuring members are accountable to controls on fishing mortality, cooperatives are often responsible for helping enforce TURF and reserve boundaries
And the benefits they receive from their exclusive privileges make their efforts worthwhile
K. Beadle

24. Secure Exclusive All Sources Scaled Accountable Limited Transferable
Controls on fishing mortality are essential in a TURF
It’s critically important that fishing mortality controls be based on sound science, which may require use of data-limited stock assessment methods
Catch limits are the preferred method because they ensure overfishing is not occurring when they are set at the right level and enforced
Other controls on fishing mortality include effort limits and spatial management approaches
No-take reserves are a good way to support thriving fish stocks; it’s important to understand that they are usually not sufficient as the sole control on fishing mortality, especially if they are small; without other controls, fishing pressure can just increase outside the reserve
Ideally, no-take reserves and other mortality controls will be designed to complement each other

25. Secure Exclusive All Sources Scaled Accountable Limited Transferable
Transferability can take a variety of forms in a TURF system
Groups could transfer their area to others, or what we see more often is people granting access to their TURF to outsiders
If the TURFs also have quota associated with them, people may transfer the quota (either within or between TURFs)
Transferability allows for flexibility that can sometimes be beneficial, but I think we can all understand why it’s important to think about how transferability can affect social goals in a TURF system

26. Secure
Exclusive
All Sources
Scaled
Accountable
Limited
Transferable

27. Questions?