OWERS: INCOME ESTIMATES AND RETURNS IN SALMON FISHERIES 



TABLE 7. — Number of entry permits required to produce reasonable earnings — summary of three 



measures. 



'Reasonable returns can be achieved with the present number of entry permits. 

 Reasonable returns cannot be achieved with a 45% reduction in entry permits. 



used in the drift gill net fisheries is not generally 

 used in other fisheries besides salmon. In the 

 southeast drift gill net fishery the present level of 

 income appears adequate. All measures indicate 

 that the Prince William Sound and the Cook Inlet 

 drift gill net fisheries require a reduction in the 

 number of entry permits. With a 45% reduction, 

 total income and a reasonable gross income as 

 estimated by fishermen cannot be achieved. 



The Alaska Peninsula drift gill net fishery 

 would require a reduction under all three mea- 

 sures examined, although substantial reductions 

 are not required. 



The Bristol Bay drift net fishery would also re- 

 quire a gear reduction under all of the criteria 

 examined. 



Set Gill Net 



Returns in all of the set net fisheries are ex- 

 tremely low. The Kodiak and Cook Inlet set net 

 fisheries cannot provide a rate of return sufficient 

 to cover operating and capital costs. All the mea- 

 sures discussed indicate a 45% reduction or more. 

 The other set net fisheries in the State would re- 

 quire substantial reductions in the number of 

 entry permits. 



Other data collected indicate that the set net 

 fisheries have a rapid rate of license turnover from 

 year to year, a high percentage of casual fishermen 

 who participate only a few weeks out of the season, 



and many fishermen with low income dependence 

 on commercial fishing (Owers 1975). 



Power Troll 



Returns in the power troll fishery appear in- 

 adequate to cover any of the measures discussed 

 with a 45% reduction in permits. The fishery again 

 cannot provide a rate of return sufficient to cover 

 all expenses. 



The power troll fishery is similar to the set net 

 fisheries in that there is a large license turnover 

 from year to year, and fishermen show relatively 

 little dependence on commercial fishing for a 

 source of income. 



CONCLUSION 



In many salmon fisheries it appears that re- 

 stricting or reducing the number of operating 

 units will enable earnings to rise to levels compar- 

 able to that earned in other sectors of Alaska's 

 economy. This is probably not a practical objective 

 in other fisheries, however, particularly the set 

 net fisheries and the power troll fishery. This does 

 not imply that limited entry is not necessary in 

 these fisheries. Limited entry is still a desirable 

 policy for management reasons and the fact that 

 reducing or stabilizing the number of operating 

 units in other fisheries in the same area could 



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