These are generally accessible to the 

 Regional Councils, but are of limited utility 

 because the format is geared toward 

 researchers rather than fisheries managers. 

 Some, but not all, of these series are available 

 in published form. The published data are 

 more easily available to the Regional Coun- 

 cils, but are also likely to be of limited value 

 because of the time lag between collection and 

 publication. 



There is another problem in gathering and 

 using economic information which must be 

 thoroughly considered before the law can be 

 effectively implemented. That is the require- 

 ment that "any statistics submitted to the 

 Secretary (of Commerce) by any person in 

 compliance with any requirement (of P.L. 

 94-265) shall be confidential and shall not be 

 disclosed except when required under court 

 order. "79 Jhe law specifically directs the 

 Secretary to prescribe regulations to preserve 

 confidentiality. 



As long as the data made available are in 

 such a form that individuals cannot be iden- 

 tified, there is probably no problem. However, 

 the use of disaggregated data requires careful 

 planning. Plans for using such data while still 

 protecting its confidentiality were not in- 

 cluded in the Interim Regulations^o formu- 

 lated by NMFS for use as the councils and 

 Federal agencies prepared for the March 1, 

 1977 implementation of the Act. Presumably 

 sections on confidentiality will be published 

 shortly because without clarification of how 

 disaggregated data will be handled and pro- 

 tected. Federal employees may be reluctant to 

 supply such data to researchers. 



Methods of Improving Information Base 



The existing NMFS data base is deficient in 

 several areas if it is to be used to carry out the 

 intents of Public Law 94-265 cited at the 

 beginning of this section. The areas in which 

 additional or more accurate economic infor- 

 mation are needed most urgently are vessel 

 inventories; costs and earnings data; vessel 

 construction costs; demand analysis data; 

 vessel size, employment opportunities, skills 

 of the labor force; and recreational fishing 

 benefits. 



A continuing annual data base is probably 

 not required in all these areas. However, con- 

 tinuing information is required for vessel in- 

 ventories, costs and earnings, vessel construc- 

 tion costs, and some components of demand 

 analysis. These data are needed for monitor- 

 ing and management decisions, which are 

 repetitive and continuous. Data in the remain- 

 ing areas are needed for working out various 

 isolated problems which arise and which in- 

 volve more or less unique, nonrepetitive deci- 

 sions. Special purpose studies or periodic up- 

 dating, such as once every 5 years, would be 

 adequate for such purposes. 



It is estimated that a program to develop 

 this data over the next decade would cost from 

 $2 million to $4 million per year (see figure 

 23). This range is a substantial increase over 

 the combined budget of the EMRD and SMND 

 of NMFS, but less than 40 percent of the 

 budget for stock assessments. This reflects the 

 low-funding priority which has been ac- 

 corded economic research in the past. 



It is assumed that the agency responsible for 

 collecting this data would be NMFS acting as 

 lead agency and contracting with other 

 Federal agencies, such as the U.S. Department 

 of Agriculture. This may also be an area in 



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