The Distribution of Fishing Revenues Among North Pacific Regions and Communities

Abstract

Our study uses data on vessel ownership and residency to link the earnings from North Pacific fisheries to the individual communities, cities, and states in which harvesters live and likely spend much of their fishing returns. We provide perspective on which fishing fleets generate the greatest revenues, describe the geographic location of vessel and quota owners in these fisheries, and analyze changes in the distribution of fisheries revenues over the past decade in response to new management initiatives. We examine trends in fishery diversification for fishing communities within regions and across population size. Our results suggest greater complexity than some of the literature and stakeholder sentiment which argue that limited access and catch share programs cause small fishing-dependent communities to lose revenue. Using data from 2004 to 2013, we find no consistent trend of revenue or transfer of vessels from rural Alaska to Seattle, nor revenue conWe also provide a detailed accounting of where the earnings from federally managed fisheries off Alaska flow. It provides a new and unique perspective on which fishing fleets generate the greatest revenues, describes the geographic location of vessel and quota owners in these fisheries, and analyzes various dimensions along which the distribution of fisheries revenues may have changed over the past decade in response to new management initiatives. We examine trends in fishery diversification within regions and across population size groups for fishing communities. Since passage of the MagnusonStevens Fishery Management and Conservation Act in 1976, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) has actively managed most of the fisheries occurring in federal waters off the coast of Alaska, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Commerce. North Pacific fisheries have a strong record of sustainable management and were among the first U.S. fisheries to adopt management programs that utilized individual fishing quotas and cooperatives (hereafter “catch shares”) with an objective to end the race for fish, and achieve economic and social goals (NPFMC, solidation away from smaller towns toward larger cities. We find that some regions are increasingly concentrated and reliant on the revenue generating capacity of a smaller vessel fleet. This trend is likely a result of consolidation in the number of harvesting operations. We also discuss the set of factors specific to management programs in the North Pacific that may have limited spatio-temporal revenue redistribution across community size or region following rationalization.