It may be too soon to make a judgment on the new fishery management rules, but after one year in effect, the rules’ early results show some positive trends.

According to a report issued last month by the National Marine Fisheries Service, gross revenue from all species landed was higher than the previous two years.

Economic performance of vessels in the fleet improved, and fish prices at the docks were higher in the 2010-11 fishing year than any year in the last four.

What’s changed is a new method of regulating fishing boats’ activity in order to keep the catch of threatened groundfish species like cod low enough to allow stocks to rebound.

Instead of limiting a vessel’s days at sea so as to control the amount of fish caught, the new law sets a hard quota for each species.

The right to catch fish under that quota is divided among units called “sectors,” which are groups of fishermen connected by geography or a common interest such as sustainable fishing techniques.

The fishermen within a sector can go out on any days they choose and fish as much or as little as they want. Their only limit is the quota for each species, and once the sector reaches that limit, the sector is closed for that species to all the vessels in it.

Supporters of sector management have argued that fishermen would be better able to control their costs and focus their effort on times when the prices are high.They also say that fishermen might be more likely to fish for more plentiful species without worrying about losing the chance to go after more lucrative groundfish later.

The preliminary report indicates that some of that may actually be happening. The number of nongroundfish trips increased, and overall revenues also increased despite the continued decline of groundfish revenues.

Some of what detractors of the system warned has also come true: There were fewer vessels and the industry became more concentrated. From 2007 to 2009, 20 percent of the groundfish boats earned 68 percent of the revenue. This year 20 percent of the boats earned 80 percent.

The positive trends, however, point to a industry that can survive and grow, something that did not seem likely under days-at-sea management.