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IV. STUDY RESULTS FOR THE SABLEFISH FISHERY

This chapter provides tables that compare and contrast the 1991 to 1994 sablefish fishing operations that received an initial allocation with the fishing operations that did not receive an initial allocation. The chapter is divided into three sections.

Section A provides an overview of both groups of fishing operations, comparing their relative performance over the 1991 to 1994 time period. It includes summary information on the number of separate fishing operations, and the number of permit holders and vessel owners in the group of operations that did not receive an initial allocation. The section also provides data that shows that some of the fishing operations classified in the "leftout" group in one management area may have received initial allocations in another area, or for another species.

Section B further examines entities (persons) that received initial allocations. It includes a section that examines the entities that received initial QS and compares their fraction of the 1991 to 1994 sablefish harvest with their relative fraction of the total QS in an area.

Section C provides a more detailed look at the owners of vessels for operations that did not receive an initial sablefish QS allocation in an area where the operation fished over the 1991 to 1994 time period.

Section D provides a more detailed look at permit holders who were associated with sablefish fishing operations that did not receive an initial QS allocation in an area where the operation participated during the 1991 to 1994 time period.

IV.A
OVERVIEW of SABLEFISH FISHING OPERATIONS THAT RECEIVED INITIAL ALLOCATIONS and FISHING OPERATIONS THAT DID NOT RECEIVE INITIAL ALLOCATIONS.

This study defines a 1991 to 1994 fishing operation as a unique permit holder / vessel owner combination that made a landing(s) over the time period. The tables in this section provide an overview of sablefish operations. The tables directly compare operations that received an initial allocation with operations that did not receive an initial allocation.

The reader should recall from Chapter II that some 1991 to 1994 sablefish catch has been excluded from the tables if both the permit holder and vessel owner could not be identified from the catch records. Also, since mid-1990, fish tickets have not been required for groundfish harvested in the EEZ if the catch is not processed in waters controlled by the State of Alaska. While many processors have continued to fill out fish tickets, some have not. As a result, there is no single source of data that contains all the sablefish harvest data. The tables in this report were generated by merging both fish ticket and Weekly Production Report (WPR) data. In the case of catcher-processor boats, WPR catch data was substituted for fish ticket data, if it existed.

IV.A.1
Summary Data On Number of Operations, Harvest, and Percentage Harvest of 1991 To 1994 Sablefish Fishing Operations That Received and Did Not Receive An Initial QS Allocation, By Management Area and Year.

Table IV.A-s1 provides a summary overview of the 1991 to 1994 sablefish catch by management area. The harvest data are shown for two groups: fishing operations that received an initial QS allocation in the area, and fishing operations that did not receive an initial QS allocation in the area.1 As noted in the methodology section, this study defines a fishing operation as a unique permit holder / vessel owner combination that recorded a landing(s) during the 1991 to 1994 time period.

Data on the number of fishing operations, the total pounds harvested, average pounds harvested, and percentage of pounds harvested is provided for both groups of fishing operations by management area and year. A summary row for each sablefish management area provides the same estimates for harvest over the entire 1991-1994 time period.

Note that the counts of the number of operations in the summary row for each management area represent the number of "unique" operations that participated during at least one year over the four-year time period. This number is generally less than the number obtained by summing the operations that fished in each of the four years. This is because some operations fished in multiple years.

These data, as well as data in later tables, suggest that in most areas the 1991-1994 sablefish fishing operations which received an initial allocation tended, on average, to fish more of the years during the "gap" time period than did operations that did not receive an initial allocation.

Within all sablefish management areas, the data indicate that a majority of the sablefish harvest over the four-year period was made by fishing operations that received initial QS allocations. The catch of the fishing operations that received initial allocations ranged from 62.3% of the total harvest in the Bering Sea area to 81.3% of the total harvest in the Southeast area over the entire time period.2

The data also indicate that the 1991 to 1994 sablefish fishing operations that received initial allocations had much higher harvests on average than did sablefish fishing operations that did not receive an initial allocation.3 This result holds for all sablefish areas when the 1991 to 1994 time period is looked at as a whole.

For example, over the entire 1991-1994 time period in the Western Gulf and Southeast areas, the average harvest of sablefish fishing operations that received an initial QS allocation was over three times as great as the average harvest of operations that did not receive a QS allocation. In the West Yakutat, Central Gulf, and Bering Sea areas, over the entire "gap" time period, the average catch of sablefish fishing operations that received an initial QS allocation was more than two times as great as the average catch of fishing operations that did not.

Table IVA-s1. 1991 - 1994 sablefish harvests and the portions taken by fishing operations that did or did not receive initial quota share allocations. Note that a fishing operation is a unique permit holder / vessel owner combination. Some entities who received an initial QS allocation did not participate on 1991 to 1994 operations and are not reflected on this table.

IV.A.2
Number of Vessel Owners and Permit Holders Associated With 1991 to 1994 Sablefish Fishing Operations That Did Not Receive an Initial Allocation

Table IV.A-s2a provides "overview" estimates of the number of sablefish fishing operations that did not receive an initial QS allocation in at least one area where the operation participated during the 1991 to 1994 time period. It also shows the number of permit holders and vessel owners that were involved in those operations, and shows the number of unique fishing operations where the permit holder was the vessel owner (PH=VO). These estimates are provided by management area and by year.

A summary row over all years is provided for each management area. Note that the summary row contains the unique number of entities that participated over the four year time period. This number is usually less than the sum of the number of entities that participated in each year, because some entities participated in multiple years.

Over the entire time period, the percentage of these fishing operations where the permit holder was also the vessel owner varied from 73.8% (273 out of 370) in the Southeast area to 42.7% (35 out of 82) in the Aleutians Islands area.

The number of these "leftout" sablefish fishing operations in an area and a year is always greater than the number of permit holders and vessel owners that composed the operations. This is due to permit holders participating on more than one vessel and multiple permit holders fishing from the same vessel. As noted above, each combination of permit holder and vessel owner was counted as a fishing operation for empirical purposes.

Table IV.A-s2b provides similar estimates summed over all sablefish management areas by year. The table shows the number of sablefish fishing operations that did not receive an initial QS allocation in at least one area where the operation participated during the 1991 to 1994 time period. It shows the number of permit holders and vessel owners that were involved in those operations, and shows the number of unique fishing operations where the permit holder was the vessel owner (PH=VO).

Over all sablefish areas during the entire four-year period, the vessel owner was also the permit holder on 58.3% (762 out of 1,306) of these fishing operations.

Table IVA-s2a. Number of leftout permit holders, vessel owners, and unique permit holder / vessel owner combinations (operations), by management area.

Table IVA-s2b Fishing operations that did not receive an initial allocation of QS: number of operations, permit holders, and vessel owners, over all management areas.

IV.A.3
Leftout Sablefish Vessel Owners In One Area That Received QS in a Different Management Area

Table IV.A-s3 provides summary information on the owners of vessels used in sablefish operations that did not receive an initial QS allocation in at least one area where the operation participated over the 1991 to 1994 time period. The table is organized by management area and year, with a summary row for the entire 1991 to 1994 time period.

This table serves to illustrate that a vessel owner "leftout" of an initial sablefish allocation in one area may have received an initial allocation in some other sablefish area. Similarly, the "leftout" sablefish vessel owner may have received an initial allocation of halibut in a halibut area.

The columns in the table include a count of leftout vessel owners, a count of those owners who received sablefish QS in a different area(s), the percentage of those leftout owners who received sablefish QS in another sablefish area(s), a count of those owners who received an initial allocation of any type of QS, and the percentage of those owners who received any type of QS.

For example, in the sablefish Western Gulf area there were 108 unique vessels owners who owned boats used in leftout sablefish operations. Of these 108 vessel owners, 34 (31.5%) received sablefish QS in another sablefish management area, and 61 (56.5%) received an initial allocation of some type of halibut or sablefish QS.

As can be seen, these percentages vary greatly from area to area. The percentage of leftout vessel owners who received initial QS in some other area was the highest in the Bering Sea.

In contrast, a relative low percentage of the leftout vessel owners in Southeast area received an initial allocation of sablefish QS elsewhere. Of the 339 leftout vessel owners in the Southeast area, 13 (3.8%) received sablefish QS in some other management area. A relatively high number of leftout sablefish vessel owners were issued QS of some kind; either sablefish QS in another area or halibut QS. Percentages ranged from 59.9% in Southeast to 34.8% in the Aleutian Islands management area.

Table IVA-s3. 1991-1994 fishing operations that did not receive an initial allocation of QS for the area: Counts of leftout vessel owners, the number and percentage that received QS in other areas, and the number and percentage with QS in any species/area combination.

IV.A.4
Leftout Sablefish Permit Holders in One Area Who Received QS in a Different Management Area

Table IV.A-s4 is similar to the previous table, but it reports on permit holders rather than vessel owners. The information conveyed on leftout permit holders is very similar to the information conveyed in the previous table on leftout vessel owners.

Table IV.A-s4 provides summary information on the permit holders associated with sablefish fishing operations that did not receive an initial QS allocation in at least one area where the operation fished over the 1991-1994 time period. The table is organized by management area and year, with a summary row for the entire 1991 to 1994 time period.

This table serves to illustrate the fact that a permit holder "leftout" of an initial sablefish allocation in one area may have received an initial allocation in some other sablefish area. Similarly, the leftout sablefish permit holder may have received an initial allocation of halibut in a halibut area.

The variables in the table include a count of leftout permit holders, a count of those permit holders who received sablefish QS in a different area(s), the percentage of those leftout permit holders who received sablefish QS in another sablefish area(s), a count of these permit holders who received an initial allocation of any type of QS, and the percentage of leftout permit holders who received any type of QS.

For example, in the Southeast management area there were 342 unique permit holders who recorded landings from 1991 to 1994 sablefish fishing operations that did not receive an initial QS allocation for the area. Of these 342 leftout permit holders, 13 or 3.8% received sablefish QS in some other sablefish management area.

The percentage of Southeast leftout sablefish permit holders who received sablefish QS in another management area was the lowest of all of the management areas. As can be seen, these percentages vary greatly from area to area. The percentage of leftout sablefish QS permit holders who received sablefish QS in a different area was highest in the West Yakutat area at 27.0% (77 out of 285)

In contrast, 190 or 55.6% of the 342 leftout sablefish permit holders in the Southeast area received an initial allocation of some type of QS -- either halibut QS or sablefish QS in some other area -- under the IFQ program. This percentage was the highest of any management area.

As can be seen, this percentage also varied widely by management area. The percentage of leftout sablefish QS permit holders who received halibut QS or sablefish QS elsewhere was lowest in the Aleutian Islands at 20.8% (16 out of 77).

Table IVA-s4. 1991-1994 sablefish fishing operations that did not receive an initial allocation of QS for the area: Counts of leftout permit holders, the number and percentage that received sablefish QS in other areas, the number and percentage that received QS of any type.

IV.A.5
Historical Turnover Rates of Sablefish Permit Holders

In the decade prior to implementation of the IFQ program for the sablefish fishery, the fishery was characterized by a shrinking season length in most areas. There were also high turnover rates among the participating permit holders.

Table IV.A-s5 illustrates this for the 1986 to 1994 time period. The table shows the number of permit holders who recorded landings in each year by area. It shows how many of these permit holders were "new" for the year, meaning that they did not record landings during the previous year. The percentage of permit holders who are classified as "new" varied widely by area and year but was substantial in all areas. As can be seen, percentages above 50% were not uncommon in some areas.

The table also reports on the number of "first-year permit holders" where "first-year" is defined to mean the first-time the permit holder recorded a landing since 1986. The percentage of "first-year" permit holders tends to decline steadily over the 1991 to 1994 time period. This may reflect the fact that some permit holders do not fish in some years but then return to the fishery. It may also reflect an awareness of the NPFMC's IFQ plans.

The table also provides a measure of "dropouts" defined as someone who recorded a landing in the previous year but not in the current year. As can be seen, the number of dropouts can vary widely. The percentage of dropouts is calculated by dividing the number of dropouts in a year by the total number of permit holders in the previous year. This number can also vary widely, with the highest drop-out percentages in the Western Gulf, Bering Sea, and Aleutian Islands.

These data illustrate that there was substantial turnover of permit holders in the sablefish fishery prior to the IFQ program. Such turnover existed both during the 1986 to 1990 time period and during the 1991 to 1994 time period. While the three turnover measures vary widely across areas and years, there may have been a decline in some areas during the latter 1991 to 1994 time period.

Table IVA-s5. Historical turnover rates in the sablefish fishery, by year and management area. First-time persons are permit holders who entered the fishery for the first time during the 1985 to 1994 time period. New participants are permit holders who did not fish in the previous year. Drop-outs are permit holders who fished one year, and did not fish the next.

IV.B
OVERVIEW of 1991-1994 PARTICIPATION in the SABLEFISH FISHERY by ENTITIES THAT RECEIVED an INITIAL QS ALLOCATION.

This section provides information on the 1991-1994 sablefish participation of fishing entities that received initial QS allocations under the new sablefish QS/IFQ program. The reader is reminded that the information contained in these tables are considered estimates because certain assumptions were needed to be able to match entities on 1991- 1994 catch records to entities on RAM's initial allocation file.

The entities that received initial allocations were determined by matches to the RAM initial allocation file. As explained in the methodology section, multiple fishing operations (permit holder/vessel owner operations) could be assigned to the same entity. For example, if three permit holders recorded landings from the same vessel over the 1991 to 1994 time period, there would be three "fishing operations" but all would be assigned to the vessel owner as the entity who received the initial allocation.

Note that the counts here are different than the counts of fishing operations that received an initial allocation. For these tables, an initial allocation identification number was assigned to a catch record by the rules shown in the methodology section in Chapter II. This unique identifier, or entity, may represent more than one permit holder / vessel owner combination.

Also note that a substantial number of initial QS recipients in each area were not credited with participation in that area during the "gap" time period. Section IV.B.3 and Appendix III provide more information on this topic.

IV.B.1
Summary Data on Initial QS Recipients That Participated Over the 1991-1994 Time Period. The Number of Recipients, Their Harvest, and Their Percent of the Total Harvest by Area and Year.

Table IV.B-1a provides summary statistics on the entities that received initial QS allocations and also participated in the sablefish fishery over the 1991 to 1994 time period. The table contains information on the number of entities that participated, the total catch, and the average catch by sablefish area and year. It also contains information by area and year on the percentage of the total sablefish catch that was taken this group of QS recipients.

The table provides a summary row for each management area over all years. The row contains the number of unique entities that participated in the area at some time over the 1991 to 1994 time period. In addition, the table contains the total and average catch for these entities over the entire time period and the percentage of the total sablefish harvest that was taken by QS recipients over the four year "gap" period.

This percentage varied widely by sablefish area. For example, in the Southeast area, fishing entities that received initial QS for that area captured 81.3% of the area's sablefish harvest over the 1991 to 1994 time period. This was the highest percentage harvested by initial QS recipients in any sablefish area over the time period. In contrast, Bering Sea fishing entities that received initial QS allocations in that area took 62.3% of the area's sablefish harvest during the "gap" time period.

As noted above, the average 1991 to 1994 sablefish catch was greater for initial QS recipients than it was for entities that did not receive initial allocations, in all areas and years.

Some entities that received sablefish QS in an area were not credited with participation in that area over the 1991 to 1994 time period. The number of these entities is shown in Section IV.B.3. Appendix III provides more information on these entities. It provides distributional data on the amount of QS issued to these entities and shows the number and percentage of the entities that participated in other areas over the time period.

Table IV.B-1b provides similar summary statistics on the entities that received initial QS/IFQ allocations in an area(s) where they participated over the 1991 to 1994 time period. The statistics in this table are summarized over all sablefish areas.

Note that some entities who received initial sablefish QS in an area did not have 1991-1994 participation in that area. These entities would not be included in Table IV.B- 1b.

Also note that Table IV.B-1b sums an entity's 1991-1994 harvests only in the areas where the entity received an initial QS allocation. If an entity was also credited with 1991 to 1994 harvests in other areas where they did not receive an initial QS allocation, this harvest would be included in the "leftout" summaries shown elsewhere in this report.

The number of initial QS recipients that participated in at least one of the sablefish areas is smaller than the sum of the recipients that participated in each individual area because some operations participated in multiple areas during the time period.

The summary table in the row indicates that over all sablefish areas, fishing operations that received initial allocations of QS/IFQ harvested approximately 73.3% of the sablefish over the 1991 to 1994 time period.

Table IV.B-1a. Entities that received QS allocations: Entities with landings over the 1991-1994 time period, and their harvest by management area. Note some entities that received initial QS did not participate over the 1991-1994 time period and are not included in this table.

Table IV.B-1b. Entities that received initial allocations of QS: The number with landings over the 1991-1994 time period, and their harvest over all management areas. Note some entities that received initial QS did not participate over the 1991- 1994 time period and are not included in this table.

IV.B.2
Number of Years of Participation, 1991-1994

Table IV.B-2a provides summary information on the frequency of years fished by initial QS recipients who participated over the 1991 to 1994 time. These counts are provided by sablefish management area and show the unique number of entities in this category and those who had sablefish landings in 1, 2, 3, or 4 years over the 1991-1994 time period. The table also shows subcategories of particular patterns of years fished.

The reader is reminded that some entities who received an initial QS allocation in an area were not credited with participation in that area during the 1991 to 1994 time period. These entities are not included in Table IV.B-2a. Section IV.B.3 and Appendix III provide more information on this group of QS recipients.

As can be seen, the majority of sablefish operations that received an initial QS allocation and who participated during the 1991 to 1994 time period recorded landings in multiple years. This contrasts sharply with sablefish fishing operations that did not receive an initial allocation.

This result holds for all management areas. The highest percentage of multi-year participants occurred in the Southeast area, where 75.9% of the entities who received an initial QS allocation in that area participated there over multiple years from 1991 to 1994. The lowest percentage of multiple-year participants occurred in the Western Gulf area, where 54.3% of the entities who received an initial allocation in that area participated there for more than one year.

These data contrast sharply with the same data on frequency of years fished over the 1991-1994 time period by fishing operations that did not receive an initial allocation of sablefish as shown in Sections IV.C and IV.D below. The frequency of multiple years fished was much higher among entities that fished and received an initial allocation than among permit holders on leftout operations.

Table IV.B-2a. Entities that received QS allocations and participated over the 1991-1994 time period: their number of years fished over the time period and their year combinations, by management area.

IV.B.3
Relative Performance of Entities That Received an Initial Allocation of Sablefish QS.

Some persons who received initial QS allocations criticize the IFQ program because their harvest over the 1991 to 1994 time period did not count toward their QS allocations. They suggest they increased their harvest share and their dependence on the resource over the "gap" time period and they would have received more QS in the initial allocation if some of the harvest during the time period had counted. Some of these persons have claimed they received "too little" and have also asserted others who retired from the fishery during the gap time period received "too much."

This section examines initial QS recipients and compares their fractional share of the 1991-1994 sablefish harvest with their fractional share of the total sablefish QS allocation. The comparison was done on a management area basis.

A "percent change variable" is used to measure the difference between the two fractional shares. It is defined as follows:

This percent change variable can take on both positive and negative values. The following are examples of how the percent change variable works:

The reader should be cautioned again that these numbers represent estimates only because of the difficulties of matching entities on the RAM initial allocation file with entities involved in 1991 to 1994 fishing operations.4

Table IV.B-3a shows initial QS recipients and the distribution of their percent change by management area. Unlike the tables in Sections IV.B.1 and IV.B.2 above, this table includes all initial QS recipients -- both entities that fished and those that did not fish during the gap time period.

Among the entities who were initial QS recipients for an area and who also fished in the area over the 1991 to 1994 time period, some took a higher fraction of the harvest over the gap time period than their fraction of the QS for the area, and some took a lower fraction of the harvest than their fraction of the QS for the area.5

The percentage of initial QS recipients who took a higher fraction of the 1991 to 1994 sablefish harvest than their fraction of initial QS for the area varied from approximately 23.3% in the Aleutian Islands area to 36.3% in the Central Gulf area. Some initial QS recipients had a fraction of the 1991 to 1994 harvest that was more than 100% greater than their fraction of the initial QS for an area. The percentage of initial QS recipients in this category ranged from 12.4% in the Aleutian Islands area to 25.3% the Central Gulf.

The percentage of initial QS recipients who harvested sablefish in the area during the gap time period but who took a lower fraction of the 1991 to 1994 sablefish harvest than their initial QS fraction for the area varied from approximately 17.0% in the Western Gulf to 28.2% in the Central Gulf.

The percentage of initial QS recipients who were not credited with participation during 1991-1994 in an area where they received initial QS (those who fall into the - 100% percent change category) varies from 35.7% in the Central Gulf to 58.9% in the Western Gulf. Appendix III provides more information on these entities. Among the information presented, there are tables that show the distribution of QS that was issued to these entities, and how many of these persons participated in other areas during the 1991-1994 time period.

An important consideration in this analysis is CDQ compensation. Under the Council's program, persons or entities who were issued QS in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands were compensated when CDQ allocations in those areas reduced their IFQs. They were compensated by being issued QS in the Southeast, West Yakutat, Central Gulf, and Western Gulf areas.

Many persons who were issued compensatory QS in outside areas had no prior history of fishing there and hence received no other QS in those areas. When this occurred, the rules of the program allowed the compensatory QS to become "swappable," meaning the QS could be fished on any catcher vessel category, and when it is transferred for the first time it can be transferred to any vessel category.

Most persons who received swappable QS as CDQ compensation will appear in Table IV.B-3a in the -100% category.6 Table IV.B-3b provides the same information but removes from the counts all persons who received swappable QS in an area, which changes the distribution of the remaining entities that received QS.

The data from both tables confirms that some initial QS recipients increased their harvest share in an area over the 1991 to 1994 time period, whereas others decreased their harvest share over the same time period. Still other QS recipients were not credited with 1991 to 1994 participation in an area(s) where they received QS. The reader should recall from Section IV.A.5 above that the sablefish fishery has historically had substantial "turnover rates" on an annual basis.

Table IVb-3a. Entities that received sablefish QS in a management area, and their percent change from their catch in that area over the 1991 - 1994 time period. The table INCLUDES entities that received swappable CDQ QS in an area.

Table IVb-3b. Entities that received sablefish QS in a management area, and their percent change from their catch in that area over the 1991 - 1994 time period. The table excludes entities and their 1991-1994 catches and QS if they received swappable CDQ QS in an area.

IV.C
OVERVIEW of OWNERS of VESSELS THAT PARTICIPATED in 1991-1994 SABLEFISH FISHING OPERATIONS and DID NOT RECEIVE an INITIAL ALLOCATION of QS.

This section provides information and data on the owners of vessels that were involved in 1991-1994 sablefish operations that did not receive initial QS allocations under the new sablefish QS/IFQ program. The reader is reminded that the information contained in these tables should be considered estimates due to the assumptions that were needed to match entities from 1991-1994 catch records to entities on RAM's Initial Allocation file. Additionally, the lack of a single source of sablefish harvest data for individual boats made it necessary to construct a harvest file based upon a blend of data from fish tickets and NMFS Weekly Production Reports.

As previously noted, this study defines a fishing operation as a permit holder and vessel owner combination that recorded a landing(s) during the 1991 to 1994 time period.

Under the methodology, a fishing operation is classified as one that did not receive an initial allocation, and is therefore "leftout," if neither the vessel owner nor the skipper received an initial QS allocation in an area where the operation fished from 1991 to 1994.

In the NPFMC's sablefish IFQ program, initial allocations were given to vessel owners or qualified leaseholders of vessels that commercially harvested sablefish over the 1988-1990 time period.

If 1991 to 1994 participation had counted, it still would not be possible to know precisely from existing data whether an allocation should be made to the vessel owner or the permit holder without the benefit of a fact-finding application process. For this reason, this section provides data on the vessel owners of the 1991 to 1994 sablefish fishing operations that did not receive an initial allocation and the following section will provide data on the permit holders of these operations. Again, these tables sometimes utilize the word "leftout" as a short descriptive term for this category of fishing operations.

IV.C.1
Vessel Owners and Harvest Data of 1991 to 1994 Fishing Operations That Did Not Receive an Initial Sablefish QS Allocation by Area and Year.

Table IV.C-v1a provides summary statistics on the owners of vessels from sablefish fishing operations that did not receive initial QS in an area(s) where the operation fished over the 1991 to 1994 time period. The table contains information on the number of these vessel owners, the total catch from their vessels, and the average catch per vessel owner by sablefish area and year. It also contains information by area and year on the percentage of the sablefish that were harvested by these "leftout" operations as opposed to fishing operations that received an initial allocation.

The table provides a summary row for each management area over all years. The row contains the number of "leftout" vessel owners. In addition, the row contains the total and average catch per vessel owner for these leftout operations over the entire four year time period, and the percentage of the area's total sablefish harvest over the time period that was taken by leftout fishing operations, as opposed to that harvested by fishing operations that received an initial QS allocation in the area.

The catch percentage by leftout operations varied widely by sablefish area. For example, in the Southeast area, fishing operations that did not receive an initial QS allocation in that area harvested 18.7% of the area catch over the 1991 to 1994 time period. This was the lowest percentage harvested by leftout operations in any sablefish area over the time period.

In contrast, Bering Sea fishing operations that did not receive initial QS allocations in that area took 37.7% of the area catch during the "gap" time period. This was the highest percentage harvested by leftout operations in any sablefish area over the time period.

Table IV.C-v1b provides similar summary statistics on the vessel owners of fishing operations that did not receive initial QS in at least one area where the operation fished over the 1991 to 1994 time period. The statistics in this table are summarized over all sablefish areas.

Note that the unique number of the vessel owners from these "leftout" sablefish operations is smaller than the sum of vessel owners shown for each individual year. This is because some operations participated in more than one year during the time period.

Also note that Table IV.C-v1b sums a fishing operation's 1991-1994 harvests only in area(s) where the operation was "leftout." If the operation was also credited with 1991 to 1994 harvests in other areas where it did receive an initial QS allocation, this harvest would be not be included in Table IV.C-v1b, and would instead be reported in tables in Section IV.B.

The summary row in the table indicates that on a statewide basis 1,059 different entities owned vessels that participated in the 1991 to 1994 sablefish fishery in at least one area where they did not receive an initial QS allocation. These fishing operations that did not receive initial allocations of QS harvested 26.7% of the total sablefish harvest over the four year time period. On average, that represented 48,870 pounds of sablefish per vessel owner.

Table IV.C-v1a. Fishing operations that DID NOT receive initial sablefish QS allocations: Estimated number of vessel owners, and 1991-1994 sablefish harvest by management area.

Table IV.C-v1b. Fishing operations that DID NOT receive initial sablefish QS allocations: Estimated number of vessel owners, and 1991-1994 "leftout" sablefish harvest over all management areas.

IV.C.2
Resident Type of Leftout Sablefish Vessel Owners

Table IV.C-v2a provides data on the resident type of the vessel owners from sablefish fishing operations that did not receive initial QS allocations in at least one area where the operation fished during the gap time period. The resident types used are defined as follows:

The rules used to classify communities as "rural" or "urban" and "local" or "non- local" to a management area are discussed in Appendix II.

The table provides information on the number of vessel owners, and the total harvest and average harvest per vessel owner by sablefish management area, resident type, and year. A summary row for each management area and resident type gives the number of unique vessel owners in the category, the total harvest of these operations, and the average harvest per vessel owner over the entire 4 year time period. To ensure the confidentiality of individual catch data, summary data have not been reported if there were fewer than 4 observations in a category.

A portion of each area's harvest was taken by operations that received an initial QS allocation in the area, and the remainder was taken by leftout operations. The last column of the table shows the percentage of the "leftouts" catch that was taken by that resident type in that area. For example, in the Southeast area, over the entire 1991 to 1994 time period, 16.7% of the sablefish catch taken by leftout operations was harvested by operations whose owners lived in communities that were "rural" and "local" to the management area.7

These percentages by resident type varied widely by management area. In the Southeast area, 52.2% of the 1991-1994 catch that was taken by vessel owners of leftout operations came from persons who were in the Alaska Urban Local category. Note that these vessel owners would include persons from Juneau, Ketchikan, Sitka, and Petersburg. The Central Gulf also had a relatively high percentage of vessel owners in this category as well, with 43.7% of the leftout catch being taken by Alaska Urban Locals. In all other areas, Alaska Urban Locals took a very small portion of the leftout catch.

Non-resident vessel owners took the greatest portion of the 1991-1994 catch by leftout operations in the West Yakutat (47.3%), Western Gulf (59.1%), Aleutian Islands (90.3%), and Bering Sea (68.6%) areas.

Table IV.C-v2b provides similar information on the vessel owners of sablefish fishing operations that did not receive an initial QS allocation in at least one area where the operation fished over the 1991 to 1994 time period. It is organized by resident type and year. In this table, there are three resident types:

The estimates in this table are summarized over all management areas. The table provides estimates on the number of vessel owners in the category, their total sablefish harvest, and their average catch by resident type and year. A summary row contains the same information by resident type summarized over the entire 1991 to 1994 time period.

Note that Table IV.C-v2b sums a fishing operation's 1991-1994 harvests only in area(s) where the operation was "leftout." If the operation was also credited with 1991 to 1994 harvests in other areas where it did receive an initial QS allocation, this harvest would be not be included in Table IV.C-v2b, and would instead be reported in tables in Section IV.B.

Of all sablefish that was taken by "leftout" operations over the four-year time period, 11.2% was taken by vessels whose owners lived in rural Alaska communities. Urban Alaskan vessel owners accounted for 42.0% of the leftout catch, and Non- residents 46.7%.

Table IV.C-v2a. Sablefish fishing operations that DID NOT receive an initial allocation of sablefish QS: Estimated number of vessel owners, and 1991-1994 sablefish harvest by management area and resident type.

Table IV.C-v2b. Sablefish fishing operations that DID NOT receive an initial allocation of sablefish QS: Estimated number of vessel owners, and 1991-1994 sablefish harvest over all management areas, by resident type.

IV.C.3
Number of Years of Participation, 1991-1994

Table IV.C-v3a provides frequency distributions on the number of years fished from 1991 to 1994 by vessel owners of leftout fishing operations in each management area. The table shows the unique number of leftout vessel owners, as well as those who had vessels with sablefish landings in 1, 2, 3, or 4 years over the 1991-1994 time period. The table also shows subcategories which highlight particular patterns of years fished.

As can be seen, the majority of vessel owners who had a vessel involved in a leftout fishing operation participated in only one of the four years. This is true in all management areas. The Aleutian Islands area had the highest percentage (77.3%) of leftout sablefish vessel owners with only one year of involvement over the 1991 to 1994 "gap" period.

The Central Gulf area had the lowest percentage of leftout vessel owners with only one year of involvement over the time period. In the Central Gulf area, 56% (313 out of 559) of the leftout vessel owners were involved in only one year over the gap time period.

These data contrast sharply with data on entities that received initial QS allocations, as shown in Section IV.B. The frequency of multiple years fished was much higher among entities who participated and who received an initial QS allocation than among vessel owners of leftout operations.

Table IV.C-v3b provides a frequency distribution on the number of years that vessel owners of leftout sablefish fishing operations had a vessel participating in the sablefish fishery over the 1991 to 1994 time period. These data are summarized on a statewide basis.8

The table shows the number of vessel owners in this category who had vessels with sablefish landings in 1, 2, 3, or 4 years over the 1991-1994 time period. The table also shows subcategories which highlight particular patterns of years fished.

As can be seen, slightly more than half of vessel owners (51.2%, or 542 of 1,059) had a vessel involved in a leftout fishing operation in only one of the four years. The frequency of multiple years fished was much higher among participating entities that received an initial QS allocation than among vessel owners of leftout operations.

Table IV.C-v3a. Vessel owners of sablefish fishing operations that DID NOT receive initial allocations of sablefish QS in the area. Number of years fished from 1991 to 1994 and year combinations, by management area.

Table IV.C-v3b. Vessel owners of sablefish fishing operations that DID NOT receive initial allocations of sablefish QS in an area. Number of years fished from 1991 to 1994 and year combinations, over all management areas.

IV.D
OVERVIEW of PERMIT HOLDERS on 1991-1994 SABLEFISH FISHING OPERATIONS THAT DID NOT RECEIVE an INITIAL ALLOCATION of QS.

This section provides information and data on the permit holders of sablefish fishing operations that did not receive initial QS in an area where the operation fished over the 1991-1994 time period. The reader is reminded that the information contained in these tables are considered estimates because of the assumptions that were needed to matching entities on 1991-1994 catch records to entities on RAM's initial allocation file. Additionally, the lack of a single source of sablefish harvest data for individual boats made it necessary to construct a harvest file based upon a blend of data from fish tickets and NMFS Weekly Production Reports.

As noted in the methodology section, this study defines a fishing operation as a permit holder / vessel owner combination that recorded a landing(s) during the 1991 to 1994 time period. Under the methodology, a fishing operation was classified as one that did not receive an initial allocation, and is therefore a "leftout," if neither the vessel owner nor the skipper received an initial QS allocation in an area(s) where the operation fished over the 1991 to 1994 time period.

In the NPFMC's IFQ program initial sablefish allocations were given to the vessel owner or qualified leaseholder of a vessel that commercially harvested sablefish over the 1988-1990 time period. Usually, these allocations went to the vessel owner, but in some cases they went to the permit holder if a vessel was leased.

If 1991 to 1994 participation had counted, it still would not be possible to know precisely from existing data whether an allocation should be made to the vessel owner or the permit holder without the benefit of a fact-finding application process.

This section provides data on permit holders who recorded landings on fishing operations that did not receive an initial QS allocation in an area(s) where the operation fished over the 1991 to 1994 time period. Again, these tables sometimes utilize the word "leftout" as a short descriptive term for this category of fishing operations.

IV.D.1
Permit Holders and Harvest Data of 1991 to 1994 Fishing Operations That Did Not Receive an Initial Sablefish QS Allocation, by Area and Year

Table IV.D-p1a provides summary statistics on the permit holders from fishing operations that did not receive an initial QS allocation in an area(s) where the operation fished during the 1991 to 1994 time period. The table contains information on the number of permit holders, the total catch, and the average catch per permit holder, by sablefish area and year. It also contains information by area and year on the percentage of the sablefish that were harvested by permit holders fishing from these "leftout" operations, as opposed to the harvest taken by permit holders from fishing operations that received an initial QS allocation.

The table provides a summary row for each management area over all years. The row contains the unique number of "leftout" permit holders. In addition, the summary row contains the total harvest of these operations, the average catch per permit holder, and the percentage of the area's total sablefish harvest that was taken over the 1991 to 1994 time period by these operations.

The harvest percentage of the leftout fishing operations varied widely by sablefish area. For example, in the Southeast area, fishing operations that did not receive an initial QS allocation in the area took 18.7% of the area's sablefish catch over the 1991 to 1994 time period. This was the lowest percentage harvested by leftout operations in any sablefish area over the time period.

In contrast, Bering Sea fishing operations that did not receive an initial QS allocation in the area took 37.7% of the area's sablefish catch during the "gap" time period. This was the highest percentage harvested by leftout operations in any sablefish area over the time period.

The figures for permit holders in Table IV.D-p1a closely parallel those of vessel owners, as shown in Table IV.C-v1a.

Table IV.D-p1b provides similar summary statistics on the permit holders of sablefish fishing operations that did not receive an initial QS allocation in an area(s) where the operation fished over the 1991-1994 time period. The statistics in this table are summarized over all sablefish areas.

Note that Table IV.D-p1b sums a fishing operation's 1991-1994 harvests only in area(s) where the operation was "leftout." If the operation was also credited with 1991 to 1994 harvests in other areas where it did receive an initial QS allocation, this harvest would be not be included in Table IV.D-p1b, and would instead be reported in tables in Section IV.B.

Note also that the unique number of permit holders that participated on these "leftout" sablefish operations is smaller than the sum of the permit holders that participated in any single area and year. This is because some permit holders participated in more than one area and year over the time period.

The summary row in this table indicates that on a statewide basis 1,165 unique permit holders participated in the sablefish fishery over 1991 to 1994 time period, and were part of leftout operations. These fishing operations harvested 26.7% of the total sablefish harvest over the four-year time period. On average, that represented 44,424 pounds of sablefish per permit holder.

Table IV.D-p1a. Sablefish fishing operations that DID NOT receive an initial allocation of sablefish QS. Estimated number of permit holders and 1991-1994 sable- fish harvest, by management area.

Table IV.D-p1b. Sablefish fishing operations that DID NOT receive an initial allocation of sablefish QS. Estimated number of permit holders and 1991-1994 sablefish harvest, over all management areas.

IV.D.2
Resident Type of Permit Holders

Table IV.D-p2a provides data on the resident type of permit holders who participated on sablefish fishing operations that did not receive an initial QS allocation in an area(s) where the operation fished during the 1991 to 1994 time period. The resident types are defined as follows:

The rules used to classify communities as "rural" or "urban" and "local" or "non- local" to a management area are discussed in Appendix II.

Table IV.D-p2a provides information on the number of permit holders, total harvest of the leftout fishing operations, and average harvest per permit holder. The table is organized by sablefish management area, resident type, and year. A summary row gives the number of unique permit holders in the category, the total harvest, and the average harvest per permit holder over the entire 4 year time period. To ensure the confidentiality of individual catch data, summary data have not been reported if there were fewer than 4 observations in a category.

The last column of the table shows the percentage of the "leftouts" harvest that was taken by that resident type in that area. For example, in the Southeast area over the entire 1991 to 1994 time period, 16.9% of the sablefish harvested by leftout fishing operations was taken by operations whose owners lived in communities that were "rural" and "local" to the management area.9 These percentages summed over all resident types for a given area and time period total 100%

The dominant resident type of leftout permit holders varied by sablefish area. Urban Alaska residents who lived in the area local to the fishing area were the dominant resident type of leftout permit holders in the Southeast area (55.3%) and the Central Gulf area (46.1%). Non-residents were the dominant resident type of leftout sablefish permit holders in the West Yakutat (43.9%), Western Gulf (55.0%), Aleutian Islands (80.8%), and Bering Sea (66.2%) areas.

Table IV.D-p2b also provides information, by resident type, on the permit holders of sablefish fishing operations that did not receive an initial QS allocation in an area(s) where the operation fished over the 1991 to 1994 time period. The table is organized by resident type and year. In this table, there are three resident types:

The estimates in this table are summarized on a statewide basis. The table provides estimates on the number of permit holders in the category, the total sablefish harvest of leftout fishing operations, and the average catch of the permit holders by resident type and year. A summary row contains the same information by resident type, summarized over the entire 1991 to 1994 time period.

The last column of the table shows the percentage of the "leftouts" catch that was taken by that resident type. On a statewide basis over the entire 1991 to 1994 time period, 10.7% of the sablefish harvest of these leftout operations was made by rural residents of Alaska, 45.2% was made by urban residents of Alaska, and 44.2% was made by non-residents.

Note that Table IV.D-p2b sums a fishing operation's 1991-1994 harvests only in area(s) where the operation was "leftout." If the operation was also credited with 1991 to 1994 harvests in other areas where it did receive an initial QS allocation, this harvest would be not be included in Table IV.D-p2b, and would instead be reported in tables in Section IV.B.

Table IV.D-p2a. Sablefish fishing operations that DID NOT receive an initial allocation of sablefish QS. Number of permit holders and harvest by management area and resident type.

Table IV.D-p2b. Sablefish fishing operations that DID NOT receive an initial allocation of sablefish QS. Number of permit holders and harvest over all management areas, by resident type.

IV.D.3
Number of Years of Participation, 1991-1994

Table IV.D-p3a provides summary information on the frequency of years fished by permit holders of sablefish fishing operations that did not receive an initial QS allocation in an area where the operation fished over the 1991 to 1994 time period. These counts are provided by management area.

The table shows the unique number of permit holders in this category, and also the number who had sablefish landings in 1, 2, 3, or 4 years over the 1991-1994 time period. The table also shows subcategories of particular patterns of years fished.

As can be seen, the majority of permit holders fishing on leftout sablefish operations participated in only one of the four "gap" years. This is true in all management areas. The highest percentage of one-year participants occurred in the Aleutian Islands area, where 80.5% of the permit holders on these leftout fishing operations participated in only one year. The lowest percentage of one-year participants occurred in the Southeast area, where 57.9% of the permit holders from leftout operations participated in only one year over the 1991 to 1994 time period.

These data contrast sharply with the same data on frequency of years fished over the 1991-1994 time period by participating entities that received an initial sablefish QS allocation. The frequency of multiple years fished was much higher among participating entities that received an initial allocation than among permit holders of leftout operations.

Table IV.D-p3b provides similar data on the number of years of participation of sablefish permit holders from fishing operations that did not receive an initial allocation in at least one area where the operation fished over the 1991 to 1994 time period. These data are summed over all management areas.

Over all areas, 54.2% (631 of 1,165) of all leftout permit holders fished in just one year over the gap time period, and 11.9% (139) fished in all four years.

Table IV.D-p3a. Permit holders of sablefish fishing operations that DID NOT receive an initial allocation of sablefish QS. Number of years fished from 1991 to 1994 fished and year combinations, by management area

Table IV.D-p3b. Permit holders of sablefish fishing operations that DID NOT receive an initial allocation of sablefish QS. Number of years fished and year combinations, over all management areas.

IV.D.4
Estimated Gross Earnings of Leftout Permit Holders

Most fishermen who hold permits in Alaska sablefish fisheries also participate as permit holders in other Alaska fisheries. Table IV.D-p4 provides estimates of the participation and gross earnings of permit holders who were part of sablefish fishing operations that did not receive an initial QS allocation in the area where the operation fished over the 1991-1994 time period.

Table IV.D-p4 shows the number of "leftout" permit holders in each area for each year from 1991 to 1994. The third and fourth columns show the area's estimated total and average sablefish gross earnings for those permit holders. The fifth column indicates the percentage of that area's sablefish earnings when compared to the sum of all gross earnings in all Alaska fisheries for this group of fishermen.

Some permit holders who are designated as "leftouts" for a given area fished in other sablefish areas over the 1991 to 1994 time period. Columns seven through nine show the number of these permit holders, and their total and average earnings in all other sablefish areas. The last three columns show the number of leftout permit holders that recorded landings in other Alaska fisheries besides sablefish. Their total and average earnings in the non-sablefish fisheries is shown.

The summary line for each area indicates the unique number of leftout permit holders in the respective areas, and the estimated total and average gross earnings over the entire four year time period.

Note that columns seven, eight, and nine illustrate sablefish fishing in other sablefish areas, and the last three columns show earnings from other Alaska fisheries besides sablefish. The "All Years" sum for earnings in other areas and other fisheries will be greater than the sum of the individual years. This is because the annual figures show the earnings for leftouts in that year, whereas the "All Years" summary shows earnings for the entire four year time period.

For example, a permit holder may be counted as a leftout based upon his participation in Southeast in 1991. His earnings in Southeast will be counted in the row for 1991, and so will his earnings in other sablefish areas for that year. Note that the "other areas" fished by the permit holder could include areas where his operation is "leftout" and/or areas where the person's operation received an initial QS allocation. A person who did not participate as a leftout permit holder in an area in a given year may still have had landings during that year in other sablefish areas or other non-sablefish fisheries. These earnings would only be reflected in the "All Years" row for the area.

One more example on how to read the table can be illustrated by examining the section for the Southeast area. In the Southeast sablefish fishery, over the four years from 1991 to 1994, there were 342 unique permit holders from leftout operations who recorded $11,708,814 in estimated total gross earnings. Of those 342 permit holders, 82 had landings in other sablefish areas from 1991 to 1994. Their estimated earnings in those areas were $9,193,959. Three hundred five of the 342 Southeast permit holders recorded landings in non-sablefish fisheries. Their total estimated gross earnings in the non-sablefish fisheries over the four years was $74,807,441. From 1991 to 1994, earnings from Southeast represented 12.2% of the total estimated gross earnings in all fisheries for the 342 leftout permit holders.

The reader should be cautious in interpreting this table. The table uses fish tickets and NMFS Weekly Production Reports to estimate earnings, and therefore may not count all fishing activity and earnings a sablefish permit holder may have. For example, the table would not show fishing activity where an Alaska fishing permit is not required, such as tendering, fishing out-of-state, or serving as a crewman. Also, sablefish permit holders may own vessels that generate earnings in sablefish or other fisheries if the boat is leased to other permit holders, or another permit-holding skipper is hired to run the boat. For these reasons, the table likely underestimates the earnings of some permit holders. Nevertheless, the table does provide a benchmark estimate of sablefish earnings and indicates the relative degree to which leftout permit holders have diversified into other Alaska fisheries.

The table indicates that average gross earnings varied greatly between sablefish areas. Over the four year "gap" time period, average gross earnings ranged from a low of $14,187 in the Bering Sea to a high of $72,381 in the Aleutian Islands. There is also a lot of variation in the number of leftout permit holders who recorded earnings in other sablefish fisheries; however, for most areas, a large majority of the leftout permit holders also appeared as permit holders in other management areas. In the Southeast and Central Gulf areas, 24.0% and 34.4% of the respective leftout permit holders had earnings in other areas. In all other areas, more than 80% of the permit holders recorded earnings in other areas.

The table shows that a large majority of leftout permit holders have also recorded landings in other Alaska fisheries, and that landings in those fisheries make up the greatest share of their total gross earnings. The West Yakutat area shows the highest incidence of permit holders who also recorded landings in other fisheries, with 270 of 285 (94.7%) persons having done so over the 1991-1994 time period. The lowest incidence of fishing for other species besides sablefish is indicated in the Aleutian Islands, with 15 of 77 (19.5%) of the leftout permit holders recording landings in other fisheries.

1991 to 1994 earnings from the Aleutian Islands represented 13.5% of the total estimated gross earnings for the 77 leftout permit holders in that area. This was the highest estimate of a sablefish area's contribution to total gross earnings for leftout permit holders. The lowest estimate was in the Bering Sea, at 1.6%.

Table IV.D-p4 Gross earnings in all Alaska fisheries for leftout sablefish permit holders.

IV.D.5
Age Distribution of Leftout Permit Holders

Under Alaska law, permit holders must be natural persons. Table IV.D-p5 provides data on the age distribution of permit holders from sablefish fishing operations that did not receive an initial allocation in the area where the operation fished over the 1991 to 1994 time period. The data are presented by management area, year, and age category. Note that age data are missing for some permit holders and the counts will not include them.

As can be seen, this category of permit holders had a wide distribution of ages. In most areas and years, the median person fell into the 40 to 49 or 30 to 39 age category.

Table IV.D-p5. Age distribution of permit holders of sablefish operations that DID NOT receive an initial allocation of sablefish QS, by management area. Note that age information is missing for some permit holders.