In order to develop a starting point in this 

 field where little substantive work has been 

 done, OTA commissioned a study of existing 

 research and needs. This study, which is in- 

 cluded in Working Paper No. 2, represents 

 one view of the type of research which needs 

 to be done in order to improve the social in- 

 formation base on fisheries. The OTA Work- 

 ing Paper suggests that three kinds of social 

 data probably will be required by fisheries 

 managers to determine an optimum yield that 

 takes sociocultural factors into account, as 

 mandated by the law: 82 



. baseline information on fishing com- 

 munities in the United States; 



• information on social and cultural factors 

 influencing the acceptance of fisheries 

 management proposals; and 



. information on factors influencing the 

 type and rate of technological change 

 which can be expected in the fishing in- 

 dustry in the future. 



1) Baseline Information on Fishing Com- 

 munities. — Baseline data is essentially a picture 

 of the total way of life of fishermen and the 

 communities in which they live. The data will 

 be necessary to the Regional Councils when 

 they are faced with conflicting pressures to 

 make regulations and alter the law in the face 

 of changing conditions. In the absence of ac- 

 curate baseline data, managers and politicians 

 will have to rely on the recollections of in- 

 terested parties. Under those conditions it will 

 be difficult to assess exactly what effects 

 specific regulations have had in the past. 



Two kinds of baseline data need to be col- 

 lected by different kinds of research tech- 

 niques. First, there is a need for quantitative 

 demographic, social, and economic data on a 

 large sample of fishermen and fishing ports. 

 This data could be obtained by: 



a) administering a questionnaire to a repre- 

 sentative sample of household heads of 



families in the fishing business to obtain 

 data on family size; age and sex break- 

 down; range of occupations; consump- 

 tion patterns; ethnicity; kinship ties; 

 work experience; educational levels; 

 alternative skills; political affiliations; 

 fishing gear used; annual round; species 

 caught; income; associational involve- 

 ment; and some kind of indirect indica- 

 tors of commitment to the industry, 

 political awareness, etc. 



b) filling out a data sheet on every port in 

 the United States to obtain information 

 on transportation facilities; fish process- 

 ing capabilities; size of community and 

 size of fishing population; alternate 

 employment opportunities; fisherman's 

 organizations; fishing grounds and 

 stocks; fishery statistics; fleet charac- 

 teristics; marketing patterns; and 

 facilities necessary for a fishing industry 

 (e.g., hardware stores, repair facilities, 

 docks, etc.). 



Second, qualitative information needs to be 

 obtained on the entire culture and social struc- 

 ture of "typical" fishing communities in key 

 areas of the coastal United States. Information 

 on the status and roles of people in fishing 

 crews and cooperatives, the organization of 

 groups in the communities, the values and 

 goals of people in those communities, the 

 kinds of problems people face, and patterns of 

 cooperation and conflict are of special impor- 

 tance. The result of collecting such informa- 

 tion would be a set of standard monographs 

 on fishing communities similar to those which 

 anthropologists and sociologists have done in 

 the past. Of course, these monographs would 

 not attempt to cover every aspect of the life 

 and culture of the total community, but rather 

 they would focus on the people and families 

 directly involved in fishing. 



89 



