An ad-hoc committee will select several U.S. commercial or for-hire fisheries as case studies for examination of the distribution of permits and quotas under current management. The committee will select a minimum of three fisheries in different locales for case studies using the following criteria:

• At least one case study that has a documented history of how the program was established and permits and/or quotas distributed (i.e., have a documented rationale for the initial allocation),
  
• At least one case study that has multiple years of demographic data collected on permit/quota holders,
  
• At least one case study on a for-hire fishery, and
• At least one case study that includes information about crew.

The committee will address the following issues to the extent practicable based on currently available data:

1. How was the initial permit/quota allocated?

a. What were key objectives for the fishery?

b. Have the objectives changed over time?

2. Where and to whom were permits and quotas distributed initially? Has the distribution of permit or quota ownership characteristics changed over time?

a. How many of the original permit and/or quota holders have remained in the fishery or increased their quota share? Can common social and/or economic characteristics be identified and, if so, do they reflect the characteristics of that region? Are the social and/or economic characteristics different between those who actively fish their quota and those who lease it?

b. How many of the original permit and/or quota holders have left fishing? Can common social and/or economic characteristics be identified?

c. How many new entrants have there been since the initial allocation? Can common social and/or economic characteristics be identified?

3. What are the potential barriers that limit access of new entrants into existing or new fisheries (e.g., intergenerational differences in the cost of fishing; policies associated with permit or quota ownership, utilization, and transfers)?

a. Do these barriers disproportionately affect underserved communities?

b. Are there potential options for existing programs to reduce these barriers?

i. Identify options that could be implemented in the short term to increase access to permits and/or quotas across current and new users.
ii. Identify options that would require a longer-term investment (e.g. data collection and analysis, revision of management policies)?