Data collected in this survey will provide information to:

• evaluate of the economic benefits from West Coast commercial fisheries;
• assess the economic health of the fisheries; and
• estimate the economic impact of present and future management decisions on the fishery and fishing communities.

Over time, processors and harvesters, including charter boats, involved in West Coast commercial fisheries will be surveyed. The groundfish (trawl) harvesting and processing sectors will be surveyed in 1999 and the West Coast line fleet will be surveyed in late 1999 or early 2000.

The types of information collected include:

• A cost section including questions about operating and capital costs;
• A earnings section consisting of questions about revenues by species, product and grade;
• An employment section including questions about numbers of employees, types of employees and their compensation; and
• An ownership and vessel/plant description section to help us identify your type of operation and adjust for variations in fleet composition.

For the next several years, the information will be collected using surveys.

No. The goal is for each industry group to be surveyed over time on an ongoing basis. It is estimated that each fleet will be surveyed every 3-5 years.

If you participate in West Coast fisheries with more than one gear type, you may be asked to respond to surveys on a more frequent basis. Supplemental surveys may be used to collect information for specific issues before the Council on an as-needed basis.

In the future, other data collection procedures, including possible modifications to the existing economic logbook for vessels, may be used to minimize the time and resources used to collect this information.

• NMFS Alaska Fishery Science Center, with the assistance of the PSMFC, will be conducting a similar survey of the pollock industry in 1999.
• NMFS NW Region and PSMFC will be jointly surveying Whiting processors in 1999.

Companies will be requested to provide information which should already be available from their business records. The surveys have been formatted to minimize the expected time required to complete the survey.

While the survey is voluntary, it is important that you assist in this effort. Your participation in this survey effort will enable NMFS and the PFMC to consider economic criteria as well as biological data in their analyses.

Currently, the lack of economic data hinders analysts ability to estimate the economic impact of present and future management decisions. These data will allow the PFMC and NMFS to better understand the industry and to design policies to achieve economic goals in addition to biological objectives.

This information will be available to PFMC and NMFS to evaluate all types of management issues, including allocative decisions.

Yes. The confidential data will be accessible only to NMFS, PFMC and state analysts and their contractors and will not be released to the public. Federal and PSMFC confidentiality rules will apply.

Only the summary results of the survey, aggregated to a level that will not compromise individual confidentiality, will be reported.