WILLINGNESS TO PARTICIPATE AND BIDS IN A FISHING VESSEL BUYOUT PROGRAM: A CASE STUDY OF NEW ENGLAND GROUNDFISH

An experimental fishing vessel buyout program was initiated in 1995 to remove vessels from the Northeast United States groundfish fishery. Information provided by the applicants to this program was used to evaluate the likely participation and potential cost of an expanded buyout initiative. This paper describes the pilot buyout program and the econometric procedures used to forecast participation and bids at various levels of program spending. Program participation and bid levels were modeled in two stages using participation and bid functions. The expanded buyout program, completed in April 1998, provided a unique opportunity to evaluate initial participation and cost forecasts. Methods used in this study are also applicable to modeling other fishery related economic decisions, such as the trading of individual transferable quota shares.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Collection of U.S. Commercial Fisheries Costs

The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service, and its precursor agency, has collected information about the cost of commercial fishing since the 1950’s. The efforts were intermittent and geographically sporadic until 2000 when a systematic approach was developed and supported by ongoing budgetary commitments. Information about which fisheries within each region have reported both operating and fixed cost data through both mandatory and voluntary surveys since 2001 is provided. Coverage in all regions has improved with some regions increasing from 10% of fisheries reporting to 40% to 60% reporting. The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service, and its precursor agency, has collected information about the cost of commercial fishing since the 1950’s. The efforts were intermittent and geographically sporadic until 2000 when a systematic approach was developed and supported by ongoing budgetary commitments. Information about which fisheries within each region have reported both operating and fixed cost data through both mandatory and voluntary surveys since 2001 is provided. Coverage in all regions has improved with some regions increasing from 10% of fisheries reporting to 40% to 60% reporting

Self-Positioning Smart Buoys, The \u27Un-Buoy\u27 Solution: Logistic Considerations Using Autonomous Surface Craft Technology and Improved Communications Infrastructure

Moored buoys have long served national interests, but incur high development, construction, installation, and maintenance costs. Buoys which drift off-location can pose hazards to mariners, and in coastal waters may cause environmental damage. Moreover, retrieval, repair and replacement of drifting buoys may be delayed when data would be most useful. Such gaps in coastal buoy data can pose a threat to national security by reducing maritime domain awareness. The concept of self-positioning buoys has been advanced to reduce installation cost by eliminating mooring hardware. We here describe technology for operation of reduced cost self-positioning buoys which can be used in coastal or oceanic waters. The ASC SCOUT model is based on a self-propelled, GPS-positioned, autonomous surface craft that can be pre-programmed, autonomous, or directed in real time. Each vessel can communicate wirelessly with deployment vessels and other similar buoys directly or via satellite. Engineering options for short or longer term power requirements are considered, in addition to future options for improved energy delivery systems. Methods of reducing buoy drift and position-maintaining energy requirements for self-locating buoys are also discussed, based on the potential of incorporating traditional maritime solutions to these problems. We here include discussion of the advanced Delay Tolerant Networking (DTN) communications draft protocol which offers improved wireless communication capabilities underwater, to adjacent vessels, and to satellites. DTN is particularly adapted for noisy or loss-prone environments, thus it improves reliability. In addition to existing buoy communication via commercial satellites, a growing network of small satellites known as PICOSATs can be readily adapted to provide low-cost communications nodes for buoys. Coordination with planned vessel Automated Identification Systems (AIS) and International Maritime Organization standards for buoy and vessel notificat- - ion systems are reviewed and the legal framework for deployment of autonomous surface vessels is considered

Estimation of Commercial Fishing Trip Costs Using Sea Sampling Data

Accurate cost estimation is crucial in fisheries economic analyses, but is often the least known component of many studies. For the past two decades, a systematic approach to collecting fishing cost data has been employed by the Northeast Fisheries Science Center through the sea sampling program, i.e., onboard observers collecting economic information in addition to bycatch information. However, the selection of trips to be observed is driven by biological concerns rather than cost assessment. The primary driver is the Standardized Bycatch Reporting Methodology which dictates what types of vessels (gear, species, area of operation, etc.) participating in various fisheries should be sampled and at what rate. There are other factors (weather and the condition of the vessel) that may introduce biases in terms of choice of vessels observed within a given time frame. This is compounded by the fact that both the optimal stratification and sampling rates for estimating bycatch discards are different from those for estimating vessel trip costs. We investigate the effects of sampling bias on trip cost model estimations through the estimation of weighted and unweighted least squares models, as well as Heckman Sample Selection Models, using a data set including both the subsample of fishing trips observed in the sea sampling program and unobserved trips. Results indicate that sampling bias is an issue that cannot be ignored, given that the uncorrected estimates have the potential to lead to erroneous conclusions, which in turn may negatively affect management decisions and regulatory outcomes.Proceedings of the Eighteenth Biennial Conference of the International Institute of Fisheries Economics and Trade, held July 11-15, 2016 at Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Center (AECC), Aberdeen, Scotland, UK

A Simple Matter of Herring Fishery Management

In 1996, the US New England Fishery Management Council formed a technical team (PDT) to develop a new plan for Atlantic Herring (Clupea harengus harengus). The inshore stock was close to fully exploited while the offshore stock was underexploited. There were few full-time herring harvesters and very few processors. Fresh bait was in demand by the adjacent lobster industry. The industry had experienced a collapse in the late seventies and the original plan was withdrawn by the government in 1982. By 1992 conditions were ripe for rational federal management which would guide the redevelopment of the fishery while preventing overharvest and the redevelopment of over-capacity. Despite the proposal of several ideas for permits (described) which would allow for what might now be described as a core fishery (Pontecorvo and Schrank, 2009), an open access regime was adopted in 2001. Several possible reasons for this are examined. Subsequently the PDT examined and proposed variations on what has come to be known as sectors in the Northeast (Kitts, this meeting). Their rejection in Amendment #1 (2006) is discussed. The explication of the sector notion in the amendment process helped spread the mis-labeled idea to other fisheries and other fishermen, however. Amendment #4 to the herring plan will revisit the sector options further. Other institutional complications to the application of secure privilegebased management in the US are discussed

Carbon Footprint of Commercial Fishing In the Northeast United States

Environmental concerns about seafood consumption generally are associated with the status of target stocks as well as bycatch and/or habitat issues. The more recent concept of "food miles" hails from terrestrial food production, and focuses on "consuming locally" in an effort to reduce the carbon footprint of a consumer's diet. Fish is one of the most heavily traded food products in the world. The idea of consumers considering food miles in their consumption decisions has tremendous implications for seafood. Over 40 percent of global production of seafood is traded internationally, and the distances between fishing vessel and dinner plate only seem to grow. But how important is the carbon footprint of shipping relative to the production of seafood? This paper examines the share of energy consumption associated with the harvest of seafood in the Northeast U.S. Fishing vessel fuel consumption and landings are used to assess energy use per landed (live) weight of seafood. Such information should shed light on the true nature of the carbon footprint of seafood trade

Collaborative Approaches to Fisheries Management in the Northeast US: A Tilefish Case Study

Extended abstract

The Impact of Catch Shares on Fishing Income Diversification and Variation in Annual Revenue

Many fishermen diversify their income by fishing in more than one fishery which can significantly reduce year-to-year variation in income. However, opportunities to diversify have become more limited as access to fisheries has become more restricted. The implementation of catch share systems could further reduce diversification if those who remain in a fishery consolidate catch privileges and specialize, and those who exit lose a component of their fishing portfolio. However, catch shares, particularly in the form of IFQs, offer individuals who had not been part of fishery the opportunity to enter by purchasing or leasing quota. Thus the net effect of catch shares on diversification is uncertain. Furthermore, for fishermen that remain in the catch share fishery, the secure privilege to harvest a set share of the TAC may provide opportunities to reduce variation in income offsetting increased risk associated with reduced diversification. Thus it remains an empirical question whether and how catch shares affect diversification and variation in income. We present an empirical study of diversification in 14 catch share fisheries with a diversity of species from different regions of the US, including both IFQs and cooperative-based catch share systems. For each of these fisheries we test whether diversification levels and trends in diversification changed after implementation of IFQs both for fishermen that remained in the catch share system and for those that exited but remained active in other fisheries. We also test whether variation in fishing revenues changed for fishermen in these groups.Proceedings of the Eighteenth Biennial Conference of the International Institute of Fisheries Economics and Trade, held July 11-15, 2016 at Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Center (AECC), Aberdeen, Scotland, UK

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Biodegradation and Toxicity of Hydrocarbons along Vertical Transects in a Groundwater Plume

Abstract of paper presented at conference