Economics & Social Sciences Research Program
Regional Economic Data Collection Project for Southwest Alaska Region
Published regional economic data for Alaska fisheries
are highly aggregated and do not provide detailed and reliable
information needed for regional economic analysis of Alaska fisheries.
The IMPLAN data set (a commercially available set of data for conducting
regional economic analyses) is the major data set that regional
economists use for regional economic analyses of fisheries. Using the
unrevised default IMPLAN data, however, could generate several problems
for analyses of fishery industries in Alaska. Therefore, there is an
ongoing need to improve the regional economic models by collecting
primary data (including comprehensive community surveys focusing on
communities of interest) and revising published data such as that
contained within IMPLAN for Alaska fishing communities.
Researchers at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks (UAF) have now started to collect
and maintain the necessary disaggregated and reliable regional economic
data for all boroughs and census areas in the Southwest Alaska region.
Project researchers are conducting surveys, using existing state
government data (including published and confidential data), or
estimating the data based on other primary and secondary data or other
best information available, including comprehensive community surveys
for communities of interest. The goal of this project is to undertake
these tasks in order to improve our ability to conduct the requisite
regional economic analyses, such as those required under the Magnuson
Stevens Act and the National Environmental Policy Act.
By Chang Seung
Nonresident Employment and Earnings Estimation Project
Information on nonresident workers and their earnings
is important in developing a regional economic model for Alaska
fisheries. If regional economic impacts from fisheries are calculated
based on the assumption that all the workers are residents of a study
region in Alaska, the regional impacts will be overestimated. Therefore,
it is important to distinguish between resident and nonresident workers
in seafood industries. However, published regional economic data do not
provide reliable information on the nonresident employment and income.
By matching the worker’s social security number on the wage file from
Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development (DOLWD) with the
social security number on the permanent fund dividend file from Alaska
Department of Revenue, the DOLWD Research and Analysis Section will
estimate the number of workers who come from the local area, other
Alaska regions, and the rest of the United States, respectively, and
their earnings, for all industries including seafood processing industry
in all boroughs and census areas in Alaska. The results from this
project will be used to revise the residency information in the default
IMPLAN fishery data.
By Chang Seung
Economic Impacts of the Steller Sea Lion Conservation Area
Alan Haynie completed his dissertation which develops
a new method for predicting the economic impact of a fishery closure
such as the Steller Sea Lion Conservation Area. Not only does the model
of fisher behavior improve our ability to predict the spatial
redistribution of fishing effort in response to closing various parts of
the Bering Sea pollock fishery for Steller sea lion preservation, but it
also allows us, for the first time, to generate estimates of the costs
to the fleet of having to fish outside of the closed areas. The model
will serve as a useful tool in many other spatially delineated
management issues (such as those aimed at other types of conservation)
and doesn’t required an extensive cost/earnings data set, and thus
represents a practical and valuable contribution for predicting future
the economic impacts of future closures. Alan has presented his work to
a range of audiences, and scientists from various disciplines have shown
interest and excitement regarding the development and application of
this model. As well as allowing better predictions of the economic
impacts of protected areas, this type of model can be used to assess the
relative burden of potential closures on different communities or
fisheries.
By Alan Haynie
Emigration in Remote Alaskan Communities
Jennifer Sepez and Dan Lew are working with UW
Anthropology Ph.D. student Courtney Carothers on a project to
investigate the out-migration of halibut and sablefish fishing quota
holdings from small, remote fishing communities (SRFCs) in Alaska. To
mitigate the effects of this trend, the NPFMC has instituted a program
that allows SRFCs in the Gulf of Alaska to purchase quotas and lease
them to local fishermen. But the underlying causes of quota
out-migration have not been systematically investigated. The first phase
of the project is under way and involves analyzing trends in recorded
quota share transfers for patterns consistent with the hypothesis that
quota is in fact migrating out from SRFCs at a faster rate than from
non-SRFCs. The preliminary analysis verifies that trend, and the
investigation will now begin looking at the factors that contribute to
quota leaving these communities.
By Jennifer Sepez
Halibut Sport Fishing Survey
Dan Lew is working with Professor Doug Larson
(University of California, Davis) on a project to measure the demand for
halibut sport fishing in Alaska and to understand the factors affecting
participation in the fishery. A survey has been in development for
several months, and focus groups with Alaska anglers are being convened
and will continue through summer and fall 2005. A formal pretest and the
final survey are expected to be implemented in 2006 upon approval by the
Office of Management and Budget.
By Dan Lew
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AFSC Quarterly Research Reports April-June 2005
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