CHAPTER V 



COSTS AND EARNINGS OF 

 NEW ENGLAND TRAWLERS 



Introduction 



While the groundfish industry of New 

 England has been referred to as a unit in 

 this study, it is in reality a group of 

 "industries" which differ from one another 

 according to the principal species landed 

 at each port. For this reason it was nec- 

 essary to discuss separately each of the 

 groundfish resources. Likewise for this 

 reason, it was necessary to analyze costs 

 and earnings by ports. Thus, Boston — pri- 

 marily a haddock port — was the subject of 

 one analysis. SimiJarly, Gloucester, Port- 

 land, and Rockland — the major ocean perch 

 ports — were grouped together in a separate 

 analysis. 



An;;- analjrsis of the New England trawl- 

 er fleet must take note of certain impor- 

 tant factors. Perhaps the most important 

 are the substantial differences in vessel 

 landings, receipts and activities. This in 

 turn points up the absence of homogeneity 

 in the productive units which make up the 

 large trawler fleet. The vessels diff'er 

 one from another in almost every respect: 

 size, horsepower, gear, and managerial 

 skill. And it is these factors which de- 

 termine the performance and profitability 

 (or lack of it) of the individual vessels. 

 In addition, these factors are neither 

 independent nor divisible. They are both 

 interdependent and mutually interrelated: 



"The properties of the hall. . ..partly 

 determine the effect of the engine and the 

 reverse. The properties of the vessel 

 determine for a considerable part the ef- 

 fect of the gear, and the properties of the 

 gear partially determine the behavior of 

 the vessel when fishing, .. .The properties 

 of the skipper - his capacity to serve or 

 quality - largely determine the results of 

 a given outfit, but the properties of the 

 vessel, gear, and other factors influence 

 ths skipper's decision." 9J4/ 



In view of the foregoing, it would be 

 well to examine briefly the effects of 

 differences in size, activity, and manage- 

 rial skill on the performance of Boston 

 large trawlers. For purposes of analysis, 

 the large-trawler fleet has been divided 

 into two classes: those 150 to I99 gross- 

 tons, and those 200 gross-tons and over. 

 Admittedly, this is an arbitrary classi- 

 fication. It was necessitated, however, 

 by the fact that a more definitive classi- 

 fication would restrict the number of ves- 

 sels within any given class, and might 

 also tend to reveal the individual perform- 

 ances of specific vessels. 



1. Size As A Factor 



It was found that, generally, vessels 

 200 gross -tons and over are more active 

 and productive than vessels of the 150-I99 

 gross -ton class. In each of the three 

 years for which comparable data was avail- 

 able, 1956-5^8, the average 200. gross-ton 

 vessel had greater landings and receipts 

 and made more trips than the average 150- 

 199 gross-ton vessel, (table V-1). V.fhile 

 at first glance it seems only natural that 

 the larger vessels should have higher 

 landings and receipts, the experience has 

 been that the additional receipts are gen- 

 erally greater than the additional costs 

 incurred, so that the relative performance 

 of the larger vessel results in a greater 

 net return than does that of the smaller 

 vessel. 



Another indication of the superiority 

 of the 200 gross-ton and over trawler is 

 the stability of its year-to-year perform- 

 ance-. For the years 1956, 1957, and I958 , 

 the fifteen 200 gross-ton trawlers for 

 which information was available were ranked 

 according to total receipts, (table V-2). 

 Over the 3 -year period there was very 

 little change in the relative positions of 

 these trawlers. 



In a similar' ranking for the 150-199 

 gross-ton trawlers, however, this con- 

 sistency was lacking. The performance of 

 individual vessels was, in some instances, 

 most erratic, (table V-3). 



9I1/ Bottomanne, C. J. Principles of Fisheries Development . 

 Publishing Company, 1959. p. 73. 



Amsterdam: North-Holland 



$^ 



