From Input Controls to Quota Management in the Tasmanian Rock Lobster Fishery

In an effort to control escalating fishing effort, a quota management system (QMS) of individual transferable quotas (ITQs) has recently been introduced in the Tasmanian rock lobster fishery. We outline and compare the input controls system in place before the introduction of a QMS, and we discuss the operation of the QMS to the end of its first full season in February 1999. We find cautiously for a successful introduction of a QMS as catch, effort and catch rate data tend towards what fishery managers believe to be bio economically sustainable levels.