Cape Cod Fisheries Trust
The Cape Cod Fisheries Trust was established to ensure that the Cape's local, smaller-scale fishing businesses continued to be profitable and sustainable.
It came about when a group of fishermen got together with the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen's Alliance to figure out how to cope with some of the unforeseen consequences that happened when the management of scallop and groundfish moved into catch share systems.
In collaboration with the Community Development Partnership, the Trust delivers a suite of economic development initiatives to support our fleet. In all that we do, we promote good business practices and support the Cape's next generation of fishermen.
In 2015, the Trust team published a handbook intended for communities who want to build a permit bank or have launched one and are learning to manage it as a nonprofit business. In it, we share some of our experience on Cape Cod, lessons learned from others and questions to consider at each step along the way. Click here to download the "Banking on Your Fishing Future" handbook.
Catch-share and quota systems are used to protect fish populations. But these rules have given large-scale fishing businesses—those with more capital for buying quota—a distinct advantage over our local fleet. With support from our lenders and donors we buy fishing quotas, much the way land trusts buy property, and keep them in our community.
Gaining access to quota is not the only business challenge entrepreneurial fishermen face. They have to navigate a dynamic regulatory environment and complex competitive issues. We collaborate with the 