Review of the West Coast Commercial Fishing Industry in 2004
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Review of the West Coast Commercial Fishing Industry in 2004 Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission September 2006 Suggested Citation: The Research Group. Review of the West Coast Commercial Fishing Industry in 2004. Prepared for Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission. September 2006. PSMFC Contract No. 05-41. The preparation of this report was funded by NOAA, National Marine Fisheries Service, Northwest Regional Office. Review of the West Coast Commercial Fishing Industry in 2004 prepared by The Research Group Corvallis, Oregon prepared for Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission Portland, Oregon September 2006 PREFACE This study was sponsored by the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission (PSMFC). Dave Colpo, PSMFC directed the project and was very helpful guiding tasks to successful completion. The study was funded with a grant from the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Northwest Regional Office. Steve Freese was the NMFS funding administrator who did double duty in providing understanding and insight on the issues facing the U.S. West Coast fishing industry. The study consultant was The Research Group, Corvallis, Oregon. Shannon Davis and Hans Radtke were the principal authors. The authors were greatly assisted by Kari Olsen at The Research Group. This study purpose is to prepare a report for lay readers interested in fishery management. The report is to have the same level and extent for Washington and California fishery descriptions that are in a serial publication describing Oregon commercial fisheries. (The Oregon report is written by this study's authors and the citation is in this report's bibliography section.) All three states would then have parallel descriptions in a single report. This study also provides updated information in a report published in February 2000 by the PSMFC. (Again, this study's author wrote the PSMFC report and the citation is contained in this report's bibliography section.) This new report liberally borrows excerpts from both the Oregon and previous PSMFC reports as applicable to new fisheries' situations. Fish landing data is garnered from the Pacific Coast Fisheries Information Network database maintained by the PSMFC and the fish ticket and permit databases maintained by the states. Will Daspit at the PSMFC, Lee Hoines at the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), John Seabourne at Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), and Gerry Kobylinski at the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) assisted in providing the data. This report was reviewed in draft form to provide candid and critical comments. This feedback helped make the findings of this report as sound as possible and ensures the report meets standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charges. Although reviewers provided many useful comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse study findings and recommendations. This independent examination task was done in accordance with accustomed procedures and review comments were carefully considered. The authors' interpretations and conclusions should prove valuable for this study's purpose. However, no absolute assurances can be given that the described results will be realized. Government legislation and policies, market circumstances, and other situations will affect the basis of assumptions in unpredictable ways and will lead to unanticipated changes. The information should not be used for investment or operational decision making. The authors and study sponsor do not assume any liability for the information and shall not be responsible for any direct, indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages in connection with the use of the information. Authorization is granted for the study report's contents to be quoted either orally or in written form without prior consent of the authors. Customary reference to authorship, however, is requested. i kco D:\Data\Documents\swd\PSMFC WACA comm rpt.doc TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Preface .................................................................................................................................. i Table of Contents............................................................................................................................ ii List of Acronyms and Abbreviations............................................................................................ vii Executive Summary....................................................................................................................... ix I. INTRODUCTION A. Project Scope........................................................................................................I-1 B. Project Limitations................................................................................................I-1 C. Sources of Information .........................................................................................I-2 1. Vessels 2. Processors D. Fishery Management Context...............................................................................I-5 E. Definition of Species and Gear Groups ................................................................I-5 F. Definition of the Fishing Fleet and Processors.....................................................I-6 1. Vessels 2. Processors G. Definition of Economic Value............................................................................I-13 H. Definition of Climatic Conditions ......................................................................I-14 I. Definition of Overfished.....................................................................................I-14 II. HARVEST TRENDS A. Landed Volume....................................................................................................II-1 B. Landed Value.......................................................................................................II-1 C. Vessel Counts.......................................................................................................II-2 D. Harbors.................................................................................................................II-3 III. VESSEL PARTICIPATION DESCRIPTION A. Vessel Characteristics ........................................................................................ III-1 B. Vessel Revenue Categories................................................................................ III-2 1. Distant Water Fisheries Revenues 2. Revenue Distribution C. Fisheries Specialization ..................................................................................... III-4 D. Vessel Permits.................................................................................................... III-5 IV. FISHERIES DESCRIPTION A. Annual Fishing Cycle ........................................................................................IV-1 B. Distant Water Fisheries......................................................................................IV-1 ii kco D:\Data\Documents\swd\PSMFC WACA comm rpt.doc TABLE OF CONTENTS (CONT.) Page C. U.S. West Coast Fisheries..................................................................................IV-3 1. Groundfish Fishery 2. Pacific Whiting Fishery 3. Salmon Fishery 4. Crab/Lobster Fishery 5. Shrimp Fishery 6. Pelagic Fisheries 7. Highly Migratory Species Fishery 8. Other Fisheries V. SEAFOOD PROCESSOR AND BUYER CHARACTERISTICS A. Purchaser Counts and Purchase Volume ............................................................ V-1 B. Multi-Fisheries Dependency............................................................................... V-1 C. Processor Classifications.................................................................................... V-4 D. Processed Product Value..................................................................................... V-4 E. Fish Processing Facilities.................................................................................... V-4 F. Facility Production Costs and Retail Prices........................................................ V-6 G. Seafood Processing Trends............................................................................... V-11 H. Seafood Marketing Issues................................................................................. V-15 I. Consumer Perception About Seafood............................................................... V-16 J. Trends in Seafood Consumption....................................................................... V-17 VI. MAJOR PROCESSING COMPANIES AND FACILITIES A. Background........................................................................................................VI-1 B. Parent Group Ownership....................................................................................VI-1 C. Ownership Trends by State..............................................................................VI-15 1. Washington 2. Oregon 3. California D. Processor Consolidation...................................................................................VI-18 VII. ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTION VIII. BIBLIOGRAPHY List of Tables Table I.1: Data Sources Table I.2: Major Fishery Groups by States iii kco D:\Data\Documents\swd\PSMFC WACA comm rpt.doc TABLE OF CONTENTS (CONT.) Table I.3: Vessel Counts for U.S. West Coast Fishing Fleet in 2004 Table I.4: Vessel Classification Rules Table I.5: Total Counts and Revenues by Vessel Classifications in 2003 Table I.6: Sources of Revenue by Vessel Classifications in 2003 Table II.1: U.S. West Coast