Established in 2008 by the Cape Cod Commerical Hook Fishermen’s Association, the Cape Cod Fisheries Trust leases quota and provides business development support to small-scale, owner-operated fishing businesses. Through these activities the Trust seeks to promote the creation and growth of profitable fishing businesses and a vibrant fishing economy in Cape Cod, and to protect marine resources critical to the next generation of fishermen.
As CCFT’s operations expanded – and its potential as a national model emerged – the Trust recognized its need for a robust evaluation system to guide decision-making within the organization, and communicate its impacts to other stakeholders. In 2010 CCCHFA engaged Amplifier to partner with the Trust to design and implement this system.
Working with board members, fishermen, program partners and experts, Amplifier helped the Trust articulate its economic, social, conservation and organizational sustainability goals. We created a set of indicators to measure long-term progress towards each goal, and a methodology for collecting, tracking, and analyzing data to support quantitative and qualitative assessments of whether CCFT is moving the needle forward. We also developed tools to bolster the organization’s leasing operations and financial management, and continue to support CCFT to implement the system and tell its story in regional and national venues.
During this process the challenges of scaling community-based fisheries management models became clear: limited sharing of processes and technology, unsystematic communication to stakeholders, and difficulty coordinating data collection, research and performance monitoring. To meet these challenges, CCFT and Amplifier reached out to The Nature Conservancy, another national leader, to plan how the partners could capture, share and ultimately systematize their lessons, processes and technologies.
Our solution is the Fisheries Hub – a technology solution that serves as a comprehensive source of models, tools and data for major stakeholders including fishermen, local communities, policymakers, and the general public. Learn more about the Fisheries Hub here.
Amplifier also partners with CCFT to pursue policy changes that create an environment in which community-based programs can thrive. Just one example: we are in discussion with the Community Development Division of the Federal Reserve Bank to host a 2011 convening that will bring together fishery management experts and community development financing specialists to discuss financing solutions and potential changes to federal policies and programs to support low-income fishing communities to maintain long-term ownership of their fishery assets.