The point of catch-shares is to get government out of the business of telling fishermen when they can fish," said Brian Gorman, spokesman for NOAA Fisheries. "It minimizes the amount of regulations fishermen have to endure and puts more control into their hands."

Jeremiah O'Brien, president of the Morro Bay Commercial Fishermen's Organization, said the program will "basically turn fishing over to corporate entities." He said it isn't a good management tool, and he is baffled why the government would pursue a policy that he said will eliminate jobs.