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affect economic returns due to an early season fishery. In 

 addition, problems may be compounded if the early season fishery is 

 associated with an Olympic style pulse fishery. Economic costs may 

 result due to three related issues: 1) low weight of individual 

 fish; 2) poor proximal condition of individual fish, and; 3) 

 harvest of a higher proportion of younger fish. The relative 

 importance of these factors, may depend, and be related to, 

 selection of final product forms for processing. 



Application of bioeconomic models (Enriquez 1992, Sylvia and 

 Enriquez 1992) suggest that early season fisheries may generate up 

 to 15 percent lower economic returns in the fishery over time due 

 to the harvest of a relatively higher proportion of smaller and 

 younger fish. Results showed that fishing early in the season and 

 fishing south in an Olympic style fishery would increase the 

 variability of harvests, revenues, and profits over time and 

 increase industry risks compared to a fishery in which effort was 

 more diversified temporally and spatially. These lost benefits 

 would result from lower prices per pound of fillets due to their 

 smaller size, lost growth of fish during the season compared to a 

 fishery which may be extended over time and space (a result similar 

 to findings by Methot and Dorn 1992) and smaller harvests and 

 stocks over time. In addition, findings suggest there may be 

 increased variability in the fishery over a long period of time due 

 to the interactive effects of recruitment variability and the 

 higher proportion of fishing effort on younger year classes. 



Interviews with seafood buyers and preliminary and on-going work by 

 food scientists suggest there may be other problems associated with 

 an early fishery. Experienced European buyers of Pacific whiting 

 fillet blocks have stated that the quality of product processed 

 from fish harvested early in the season were generally poor as a 

 result of the emaciated condition of the fish (During, personal 

 communication; During 1992). This resulted in blocks of overall 

 poor quality and shelf life, making them unacceptable for production 

 into secondary products including fish sticks and portions. At 

 least one buyer recommended that Pacific whiting should not be 

 harvested until mid-May to ensure adequate product quality. 



Ongoing research at the Astoria Seafood Laboratory also suggest 

 there may be problems with an early season fishery (Morrissey, 

 personal communication) . Most fish species show annual changes in 

 relative protein, lipid, and moisture contents due to sexual 

 maturation and spawning (Love 1988). An example of the annual 

 variation in proximal content of Pacific whiting is shown in 

 Figure 1. These graphs indicate that early in the season (April, 

 May) Pacific whiting may have a high moisture and relatively low 

 fat and protein content following winter spawning. Preliminary 

 evidence suggests that for many product forms including surimi, 

 these conditions may affect recovery rates and product quality 

 resulting in lower product grades, lower market prices, and a 

 reduction in viable production options. However, much more 



