Characterizing crew and fuel price impacts : survey of Pacific halibut and sablefish quota share holders
Creators: name: Kotlarov, Alexander
Publisher: name: U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service, Alaska Fisheries Science Center
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Fisheries--Alaska--Employees--Economic conditions.

description: In February 2010, the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the Alaska Sea Grant conducted a mail out survey to quota share (QS) holders of the Alaska IFQ program for halibut and sablefish. This survey was conducted to gather more information on crewmembers and cost of fuel prices for the Alaska halibut and sablefish fishery. Specifically, we targeted the survey to look at trends in the fishery as they relate to the number of full- and part-time crew positions, the extent to which QS holders fish from their home port, and the locations where gear and supplies are purchased. The survey also collected QS-holder perceptions about the impacts of recent variations in fuel prices and operation costs, and the chances of a QS holder purchasing more halibut or sablefish quota shares in the future. The survey was mailed to a stratified random sample of 895 halibut QS holders and 400 sablefish QS holders. The stratification was divided into 12 areas to better characterize possible differences among QS holders in different vessel classes. A total of 1,295 surveys were distributed by mail and 365 were returned. Returned rates varied from 16% to 37% in relation to the stratification. In addition, there was an online version of the survey that received 69 responses not included in the control group. The six-part survey begins with a series of questions (questions 1-5) about whether the respondent fishes from his/her own vessel or on another's vessel, the number of crew onboard when QS is being fished, and the number of QS holders aboard when QS is being fished. The second section surveys the residency of crew in relation to where they fish (questions 6-9). The third section surveys the difficulties of hiring crew and asks about home port and where supplies are purchased (questions 10-12). The fourth section surveys the percentage of gross revenues spent on operational costs (questions 13 and 14). Impacts of changes in fuel prices are analyzed in questions 15–18. The final section (questions 19–22) explores a QS holder’s interest in purchasing additional halibut or sablefish QS. Results showed that the crew in certain areas on smaller vessels tended to be drawn from the local region while the crew on the larger vessels in more remote areas tended to be drawn from outside the local region. Results also showed that more remote areas of Alaska tended to have higher operating costs and greater difficulty finding crew compared to areas of Alaska that had larger population bases. Financing to purchase more QS for halibut and sablefish was more difficult to obtain for those in remote areas but these same areas had the highest response to purchase more QS (Area 4, halibut; AI, in sablefish) Preliminary results of the survey were released in January 2011 and this more comprehensive analysis was completed in the spring of 2012.