6 CONSOLIDATION OF PERMIT HOLDERS
ON FISHING OPERATIONS
The sablefish IFQ program was expected to lead to reductions in the number of fishing operations. A reduction in fishing operations was expected to reduce harvesting costs and increase the net economic value that could be generated by the fishery. Reducing the number of fishing operations was also expected to result in more fishing time and greater harvests from the remaining operations.
Some persons saw this as an important benefit of the program. Sablefish harvests would require less capital and labor. Any given harvest of sablefish would require fewer resources. The average harvest cost per pound was expected to fall with longer seasons and larger harvests per operation. Ex-vessel prices were expected to improve as the season was spread out, gluts were avoided, and more sablefish could go directly into the market. All of these factors were supposed to improve the profitability of the fishing operations. Capital and labor that would otherwise have been used in the sablefish fishery would move into other productive activities and increase the net volume of goods and services produced by society.
Other persons saw the reduction in capital and labor usage as a loss of jobs and income for persons who were active in the fishery as crew or skippers. Such persons might argue that it is not without cost for labor and capital to move into other activities, and that some resources, particularly labor in rural communities, might not be able to move into other productive activities easily. Thus the social gains might not be as large as program proponents hoped, and would be bought by placing a burden on those persons who would no longer have jobs and who would be excluded from the fishery without compensation.
These competing perspectives are reflected in the IFQ program which the NPFMC adopted. The IFQ program provides some opportunities for consolidation of fishing operations but these opportunities are constrained by a number of program rules. Among these rules already discussed are:
Other sections of this report have examined 1995 QS transfer activities and the resulting consolidation of QS holdings. This section looks at the consolidation of QS holders or lessees on fishing operations during 1995. By combining QS holdings on a fishing operation, similar reductions in labor and capital can occur even though the QS has not permanently changed hands.
Table 6-1 provides data on 1995 sablefish harvest by IFQ area. These data were taken from the RAM catch data base. The table shows the total 1995 harvest excluding CDQ catch in round sablefish pounds, the number of unique persons recording landings on the RAM data base, the number of unique vessels recording landings, the number of unique "vessel landing days" and the number of unique "people landing days".
The table also shows the pounds per person, pounds per vessel, and people who made landings per vessel. Note that the average number of persons per vessel is greater than one in all IFQ areas. This ratio varied from 1.09 persons per vessel in the Aleutian Islands to 1.26 persons per vessel in the Central Gulf.
Table 6-2 provides similar data on the 1995 sablefish harvest by management area and vessel class. In this table the vessel category was determined solely by the vessel category assigned to the QS units used by the QS holder or leaseholder. The average number of persons (IFQ permit holders) per vessel was one or greater for all vessel classes. The average number of persons per vessel did not vary systematically by vessel class.
Table 6-3 provides similar time series data for catcher vessels only over the 1991 to 1995 time period. In this table, catcher processors were determined by processor code to make 1995 data more consistent with 1991-1994 data. As a result, the 1995 harvest by catcher vessels in Table 6-3 is somewhat different than that shown in Table 6-2. 1
Table 6-3 uses CFEC permit holders who recorded landings for "person" counts over the 1991 to 1994 time period. During 1995, Table 6-3 uses IFQ permit holders from the RAM catch file. Thus the reader should be aware that the 1995 person counts may not be strictly comparable with 1991 to 1994 person counts. Moreover, several assumptions were needed to construct the database so that the data in the tables should be viewed as "estimates".2
The table indicates that the estimated number of person-landing days and vessel-landing days declined in 1995 over 1994 levels in the Southeast, West Yakutat, and Central Gulf areas. In contrast the values for these variables increased in 1995 over 1994 levels in the Western Gulf, Aleutian Islands, and Bering Sea areas. The 1995 values for these variables were within their respective ranges over the 1991 to 1994 time period in all areas except the Central Gulf. In the Central Gulf, the 1995 values for these variables were substantially lower than any observed over the 1991 to 1994 time period.
The estimated number of vessels used to record landings declined in 1995 over 1994 levels in the Southeast, West Yakutat, and Central Gulf areas. In contrast, the estimated number of vessels with landings increased in 1995 over 1994 levels in the West Yakutat, Aleutian Islands, and Bering Sea areas. The 1995 numbers of vessels with landings were within the values observed over the 1991 to 1994 time period in all areas except the Southeast, Central Gulf, and the Aleutian Islands areas. In the Southeast and Central Gulf areas, the numbers of vessels in 1995 were below the levels observed over the 1991 to 1994 time period. In the Aleutian Islands, the number of vessels observed during 1995 was above those observed over the 1991 to 1994 time period.
The estimated number of persons with recorded landings declined in 1995 over 1994 levels in the Southeast and Central Gulf areas but increased in all other areas. In most areas, the number of persons was within the range observed over the 1991 to 1994 time period. Exceptions occurred in the Central Gulf and Aleutian Island areas. In the Central Gulf the number of persons with recorded landings in 1995 was lower than the numbers observed over the 1991 to 1994 time period. In the Aleutians, the number of persons with recorded landings in 1995 was higher than the numbers observed over the 1991 to 1994 levels.
The data in Table 6-3 suggest that there may have been some additional consolidation of use-privilege holders onto a combined fishing operation under the new IFQ program. The person per vessel variable was calculated as estimated persons with landings divided by estimated vessels with landings. In all areas, the persons per vessel variable was higher in 1995 than over the 1991 to 1994 time period. Again, these data should be viewed with caution due to the different data sources and the estimates that needed to be made.