An assessment of sector separation on the Gulf of Mexico recreational red snapper fishery J. Doerpinghaus a , K. Hentrich a,n , M. Troup a , A. Stavrinaky a , S. Anderson b a Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA b Bren School of Environmental Science & Management and Department of Political Science, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA article info Article history: Received 28 September 2013 Received in revised form 25 June 2014 Accepted 26 June 2014 Keywords: Fisheries management Overage Allocation abstract In recreational fisheries with large angler populations, monitoring catch overages is a challenge faced by fisheries managers. A possible solution to this issue is sector separation, which would split the recreational fishery into two angler groups: for-hire (made up of charter boats and headboats) and private. This division would allow the two sectors to have individual Annual Catch Limits (ACLs) and tailored management. This paper uses the Gulf of Mexico recreational red snapper fishery as a case study to examine the impacts of sector separation. Because for-hire anglers can already be regulated and catch limits for private anglers remain hard to enforce, sector separation will have minimal effects on the biology of the red snapper fishery. Economic changes under sector separation are driven by management decisions regarding allocation and by the reality of overage liability. Depending on the ACL allocations and which sector is landing the overages, the for-hire sector can see economic gains with the implementation of sector separation. & 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Diverse types of anglers, including commercial and recreational fishermen, often fish in the same fishery [1]. Because of the vast differences between these sectors, including motivation, gear, and number of participants, different management regulations are applied to these groups [2]. Dividing anglers into sectors, also known as “sector separation,” allows managers to tailor regula- tions to each user group [3] and makes it easier to monitor concerns, such as catch overages or declines in stock; theoretically, this splitting leads to better management of the resource [4]. Although sector separation has been used to separate the recrea- tional and commercial sectors in some fisheries, there is currently little scientific literature about the impacts of sector separation on recreational fisheries, as there are few fisheries that have imple- mented this strategy [5]. 1 Sector separation can facilitate more detailed management and can help to reduce catch overages within individual parts of the recreational fishery by making monitoring easier. This paper explores sector separation as a management tool for recreational fisheries. Using a linked bio-economic model, it evaluates the biological and economic results of sector separation to reflect stock biomass changes and impacts on the welfare of stakeholder groups. Examining changes in stock biomass reveals whether sector separation affects the biology of the fishery; specifically, the change in the numbers at particular ages are important as only fish over the minimum size limit can be caught and kept. Additionally, examining changes in stakeholder welfare reveals whether anglers in either sector will benefit from sector separation. The Gulf of Mexico recreational red snapper fishery, where sector separation has been proposed, serves as a case study for this research. Under the assumptions of the model used here, this study suggests that sector separation itself has little to no effect on a fishery. 2 Instead, the effect of sector separation depends on how managers decide to allocate the Annual Catch Limit (ACL) between sectors. Based on how managers choose to allocate catch between sectors, sector separation can have a positive impact on the fishery. This is because sector separation locks in the proportion of catch that is allocated to each sector. In turn, this can help alleviate any issues with catch overages, and it can help facilitate Contents lists available at ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/marpol Marine Policy http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2014.06.007 0308-597X/& 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. n Corresponding author. 1 An example of a fishery that has successfully applied sector separation is the Maryland striped bass (Morone saxatilis) fishery. Sector separation within the recreational sector was used for only four years in the 1990s; the fishery recovered enough for private and for-hire anglers to recombine their quotas, and the increased stock levels made it safe for the fishery to return to recreational management under one sector and one ACL allocation [5]. 2 Sector separation could have an effect on the biology and economics of the fishery if it reduced the “race to fish” between the two sectors, but such a change is not modeled here. Marine Policy 50 (2014) 309–317