Auctioning rights to existing operators or new ones have therefore made little sense at the time. The reference to recent historical activity in the allocation process ensures that the quotas are assigned to the active vessels. However, the original "gifting" is an often-debated point and is often mitigated by setting a time duration on the allocation. What will happen at the end of the set time period is often left open, and in most cases the existing allocations have simply been renewed.