When catch shares were first into place, California's fishermen were limited to certain numbers of certain species and would end up throwing perfectly good fish overboard, logging it as dead bycatch in order to avoid punitive fines. Now, the catch-share program has aligned incentives, allowing fishermen to trade species they've already caught. These tradeable quotas allow fishermen to avoid punitive fines, thereby ensuring less waste in terms of biomass.

To complement the shift in policy, one fisherman has designed new trawling equipment to further minimize the environmental impact of his trade. Giuseppe Pennisi has designed light-trawl gear which floats just above the sea floor, rather than dragging across the bottom. Thanks to the reduced drag, this new method reduces fuel costs while preserving bottom-dwelling fauna.

Read more about it at the Monterey County Weekly.