FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 75, NO.3 



rate of economic return to the fisherman par- 

 ticipating in that fishery considering time fished 

 and necessary investments in vessels and gear . . . 

 (Anonymous 1973a)." As used in the law and this 

 discussion, a "fishery" refers to a specific combina- 

 tion of species, gear type, and management dis- 

 trict. Figure 1 shows the salmon management dis- 

 tricts in the state. An entry permit entitles the 

 holder to operate a legal unit of gear in a fishery. 



In 1974 entry was limited in the power troll 

 fishery and all salmon net fisheries, with the ex- 

 ception of those in the Arctic, Yukon, and Kus- 

 kokwim management districts. This paper 

 examines a procedure that can be used to evaluate 

 the gear cutbacks that may be required to achieve 

 "reasonable" earnings in these fisheries. Because 

 the limited entry law seeks to achieve a balance 

 among social objectives, biological management, 

 and economics, the reductions suggested here, 

 which consider only possible economic objectives, 

 are not necessarily those which the law would 

 require. 



A detailed discussion of sample size, methodol- 

 ogy, and other factors affecting the validity of data 

 used can be obtained from several of the references 

 cited at the end of the article. Further elaboration 

 is not provided in the text, other than to briefly 

 describe the data used and its source. It should be 

 further recognized that it is not the purpose of this 

 paper to present a rigorous mathematical defini- 

 tion of a problem, but rather to point out its gen- 

 eral magnitude and direction. 



ESTIMATING EXPECTED RETURNS IN 

 THE SALMON FISHERIES 



Several equations were used to estimate returns 

 salmon fishermen might receive with various 

 numbers of operating units in the fisheries. All the 

 equations are presented below, followed by a more 

 detailed description of the variables. Table 1 

 summarizes the input data used in the equations. 

 To estimate gross returns per operating unit in 

 each fishery, the following equation was used: 



G = 



T • (1 + S) 

 P  E 



(1) 



where G is the gross return per fishing unit in the 

 particular fishery; T is the total exvessel revenue 

 paid to all fishermen in that particular fishery; S is 

 the percent of revenue paid as bonus payments to 

 fishermen; P is the percent of entry permits actu- 

 ally used in a particular fishery; and£ is the total 

 number of entry permits outstanding. 



To estimate net returns per entry permit holder, 

 exclusive of opportunity costs of capital, the fol- 

 lowing equation was used: 



A^G-ffJ-C 



(2) 



where N 1 is net return not including the oppor- 

 tunity cost of capital; L is the percent of total 



ARCTIC YUKON KUSKOKWIM 



FIGURE 1. — Alaska salmon management 

 areas. 



ALEUTIAN ISLANDS 



484 



