Geographic Distribution of Commercial Fishing Landings and Port Consolidation following ITQ Implementation

We evaluate whether changes in geographic distribution of landings coincided with implementation of individual transferable quotas (ITQs) in the limited-entry groundfish trawl fishery on the U.S. Pacific coast. We use a spatial Theil index, kernel density functions of port revenue share, and Shorrocks index of intradistributional mobility to measure changes in spatial distribution. We find evidence of increased spatial concentration; however, this appears consistent with preexisting trends and not related to ITQs. Further, we find a high degree of intradistributional mobility in the revenue share of ports that coincided with ITQ implementation.