BELL and KINOSHITA: GAINS IN U.S. FISHERIES 



labor productivity.'^ Over the 1927-68 period, 

 landings per fisherman-day increased by 2.5% 

 a year. The use of landings per fisherman-day 

 eliminates the influence of shorter seasons due 

 to regulations. According to the IPHC, an ad- 

 justment has already been made to the effort 

 series to include improvement in technology. 

 Therefore, the time trend will reflect any resid- 

 ual influence of secular improvement in labor 

 productivity not specifically measured as part 

 of the effort series. In addition, since the skates 

 series'" is really a skates-per-day series, we can 

 create a fishing-effort-per-worker series. This 

 would measure the amount of fishing effort 

 exerted per worker and should have a positive 

 influence on labor productivity, holding other 

 factors constant. The statistical results reveal 

 that both fishing effort and gear used per 

 worker are statistically important determinants 

 of productivity and exhibit the hypothesized 

 sign. Crew size and the time trend were not sta- 

 tistically important. Figure 4 shows the actual 

 and computed annual landings per fisherman- 

 day in the Pacific halibut fishery. 



The Inshore American Lobster Fishery 



100 r ^1 

 I 



Pr»dicT«d withodjwtlad i\/ 

 linear •quofien 



i 1 l I 1 J J_ 



_J_J_ 



I960 



Figure 4. — Observed and predicted labor productivity 

 (landings per fisherman day) for the Pacific halibut fishery, 

 1927-31 and 1933-68. 



Estimating equation: QKL X S) = 50.654 - 0.254(£2 

 + £3) + 167.161 (£2' + E3')I(L X S) + 2.112 T. 

 Variables: (£2 + £3) = total effort in number of skates; 

 (£2' + £3')/(£ X 5) = U.S. effort per fisherman day in 

 number of skates; T = secular trend. R^ = 0.91; D-W 

 = 0.66; / values— (£2 + £3) = 4.41; (£2' -I- £3')/(L 

 X 5) = 12.71; T = 2.99. Annual compound rate of 

 growth = +2.5%. Data source: International Pacific 

 Halibut Commission. 



The inshore American lobster fishery is 

 largely based upon fishing with wooden traps or 

 pots; most lobsters are caught off the coast of 

 Maine. Based upon previous studies such as 

 that done by Dow (1961), it was hypothesized 

 that changes in lobster productivity are due to 

 the following factors: 



1. Total number of traps fished per annum 



2. Traps fished per fisherman 



3. Crew size 



4. Mean annual seawater temperature. Booth- 

 bay Harbor, Maine 



5. Secular time trend. 



According to our statistical analysis, the secu- 

 lar decline in seawater temperature and in- 



crease in aggregate fishing effort produced a 

 decided negative effect on labor productivity. 

 The computed and actual labor productivities 

 are shown in Figure 5. Holding all other factors 

 constant, the increase in fishing effort and 

 secular decline in seawater temperature lowered 

 annual landings per fisherman. However, in- 

 creases in fishing effort per fisherman and the 

 secular trend offset the negative factors, there- 

 by producing a negligible downward trend in 

 lobsterman productivity. In conclusion, despite 

 drastic changes in fishing effort and seawater 

 temperature in the inshore American lobster 

 fishery, labor productivity did not change ap- 

 preciably over the 1950-69 period. 



'5 This variable was formed by dividing the actual 

 annual halibut catch by an estimate of the number of 

 man-days expended in producing that catch. The estimate 

 was derived by multiplying the halibut employment by 

 the average number of days in a halibut season per annum. 



'8 In Pacific halibut, fishing pressure is measured in 

 terms of a skate of setline gear. "The groundline in a 

 skate of gear is usually 250 to 300 fathoms long. Short lines 

 called gangions are attached to the groundline at regular 

 intervals and each gangion carries a hook." (Skud, 1972, 

 p. 5). 



MAJOR FINDINGS 



1. Of the 17 fisheries studied. 11 exhibited 

 positive time trends in output (landings) per 

 fisherman. Based upon available data, therefore, 

 it is quite apparent that many sectors of the fish- 

 ing industry experienced substantial increases 



917 



