The federal council that oversees fishing in Hawaiian and other U.S. Pacific island waters has begun assembling information to determine quotas aimed at ending overfishing. A new study suggests it and other regional fishing councils go a step further by essentially turning fisheries into cooperatives. It is a suggestion that shouldn't be ignored.

Such a system is not a new idea. Ownership share programs are thriving in 121 of the world's 11,000 commercial fisheries, according to the study conducted at the University of California at Santa Barbara by a marine ecologist and two economists, including John Lynham, now at the University of Hawaii. Unless action is taken, commercial stocks could vanish in a few decades.

The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council has applied total fishing quotas in the past, most notably for lobsters. An outright ban on fishing for seven bottomfish species has been in effect since May of last year and has been extended to Nov. 15 while the council finishes collecting data for the National Marine Fisheries Service in compliance with a 2006 law.

Under the successful system, ownership shares of a fishery are allocated to individuals, cooperatives, communities or other entities. Scientists set acceptable catch levels and the oversight authority allocates shares for particular species within the region.

Santa Barbara economist Christopher Costello likens the old system to five children with five straws in a milkshake. “;The incentive is for the kids to slurp like hell even if they get a brain freeze,”; Costello told the Los Angeles Times. “;Contrast that to dividing the milkshake into five little cups. The kids can enjoy it as long as they want and get a higher payoff.”;

Fisheries where the system has been adopted were half as likely to collapse as those without it, according to the study published last Friday in the journal Science. Fisheries with general quotas have resulted in races to the finish and the limits were exceeded, flooding the market.

Alaska's halibut and king crab fishery adopted the share system in 1995. Previously, the rush to the overall quota had grown so intense that it was dangerous, the quota being reached in two or three days, resulting in the television series “;The Deadliest Catch.”; The fishing season now lasts for eight months.

As shareholders, the Alaska fishermen appreciate the need for good management and conservation. Some have pushed for a reduction of the quota, realizing that they stand to benefit.

Ninety percent of the world's fish are caught in national waters, and the extent of the 1.5 million square nautical miles overseen by the Honolulu-based council might make a share system difficult to police, which commonly is done by the fishermen themselves. However, it is a system worth consideration.