Why is the 10-year permit moratorium necessary?
There is excess capacity in the fishery and fewer vessels could harvest the available shrimp resources at a more profitable level. Basically, the number of vessels and the fishing power of the vessels have increased, while the level of landings has been stable resulting in each participant having a smaller piece of the pie. The moratorium will assist the economic recovery of the fishery by addressing latent effort. Should an unexpected increase in profitability occur in the near future due to decreased fuel costs or a substantial rise in shrimp prices, the moratorium permit will not allow latent effort back into the fishery, allowing those with a moratorium permit to be more profitable.
