national marine fisheries service - west coast U.S. COMMERCIAL ALBACORE ECONOMIC ANALYSIS

Through a grant from the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Lisa Wise Consulting, Inc. (LWC) conducted the West Coast U.S. Commercial Albacore Fishery Economic Analysis. The objective of the project was to address the concern on the part of the commercial albacore industry that regulations are based primarily on biological factors, however, economic and social factors may be equally important in influencing fishing activity. The project represents a proactive approach on the part of the fishermen and the industry to secure funding, share information, and work collaboratively to inform federal regulations.

LWC conducted a formal economic analysis to understand the relationships amongst fishing activity and economic and biological factors. Economic factors included operating costs, fuel, and labor. Stock biomass was used as a biological indicator and activity was represented in landings by weight, number of participating vessels, revenues, revenues per vessel, and number of processors. The data represented 54 ports in a time series from 1981 to 2010. The work also included the perceptions of the fishermen and industry stakeholders collected over five months in 30 formal and dozens of informal interviews.

The study found that biological (fish abundance) and economic factors are both statistically significant influences on activity in the West Coast U.S. commercial albacore fishery. Fishermen and stakeholders felt that any restrictions on catch and/or effort are not warranted due to the following factors that already constrain the fishery: the fishery is seasonal (four months per year); competitor nation’s fisheries receive subsidies; and the loss of the U.S. canners has forced them to rely on foreign buyers and processors - a major cause of price per pound remaining stagnant since 1981.

LWC also worked closely with the Highly Migratory Species Management Team and Highly Migratory Species Advisory Subpanel as well as the two major commercial albacore associations in the U.S. (AAFA and WFOA) to refine the report and guide the research. LWC presented the findings to the Pacific Fisheries Marine Council at a June meeting in Spokane, Washington.

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