United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2001-05-10 monographic deposited born digital 8 p. GA 1.13:GAO-01-699T https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-699T P0b002ee180388558 f:d01699t DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-699T machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-699T GAO-01-699T Fishery legislation Fishing industry Marine resources conservation Program evaluation Testimony A00976 Fish populations in many commercial fisheries are declining, resulting in a growing imbalance between the number of vessels in fishing fleets and the number of fish available to catch. Federally funded fishery buyback programs are one tool available for managers to bring the number of vessels and the number of fish back into balance. Buyback programs need to be carefully designed if they are to be effective in helping to ensure sustainable fisheries. If buyback programs are not accompanied by other measures that reduce incentives to reenter a fishery, capacity reductions resulting from buybacks will erode. Unless a buyback program prevents it, fishermen can use previously inactive vessels or permits and reenter the buyback fishery. By themselves, the buyback programs do not address a root cause of overfishing, which is called the ''race to fish.'' In most fisheries, fishermen have an incentive to increase their fishing capacity to catch fish before someone else does or use their existing capacity more intensely. Plans for evaluating the results of buybacks should also be considered when these programs are being designed. Measuring and evaluating results can identify important lessons that can improve the effectiveness of future buybacks. The federal government has done little to evaluate whether recent buyback programs have achieved their intended benefits. This testimony summarizes the October 1999 report, RCED-00-8R; and the June 2000 reports, RCED-00-120. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-699T/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-699T.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-699T/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-699T.pdf GAO-01-699T https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-699T Testimony GAO-01-699T; Commercial Fisheries: Effectiveness of Fishing Buyback Programs Can Be Improved; Fishery legislation Fishing industry Marine resources conservation Program evaluation