BSAI Crab Rationalization - Economic Data Reports
Economic Data Reports
Requirements for Rationalized Crab Fishery Vessels and Processors for the 2008 Calendar Year
An Economic Data Report (EDR) is required from any owner or leaseholder of a vessel or processing plant that harvested or processed crab in specified Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) crab fisheries during the prior calendar year. The 2008 Annual EDR submission deadline is June 28, 2009.
The annual EDR packages will be mailed to vessel owners and Registered Crab Receivers of record by May 1, 2009. Catcher Vessel EDRs may also be filed online; information regarding secure login for online data submission was included with the EDR package sent to catcher vessel owners. If you do not receive an EDR package, one can be mailed to you (at no cost), or you may download an electronic copy in fillable PDF format below. To request that a printed EDR be mailed to you, please call 1-877-741-8913, or email your request to alaska_crab@psmfc.org. Please specify in your request which form(s) you wish to receive (Catcher Vessel, Catcher Processor, Stationary Floating Crab Processor, or Shoreside Processor).
Submitting EDRs
Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission
205 SE Spokane, Suite 100
Portland, OR 97202
FAX: 503-595-3450
For more information, please call: 877-741-8913.
Annual EDR Forms
- Online Annual Catcher Vessel Form (external website)
OR
Data Quality Analysis
Data quality analysis and documentation of the BSAI Crab EDR database has been completed for the 1998-2006 calendar year data. NMFS Alaska Fisheries Science Center and NPFMC staff worked closely with the Council's Pacific Northwest Crab Industry Advisory Committee (PNCIAC) to review the protocols and findings of extensive data validation efforts. The review process has identified data elements characterized by significant data quality limitations and issued recommendations regarding data use and interpretation. These findings and recommendations were presented at the December, 2008 NPFMC meetings in Anchorage and endorsed by the SSC and Council. Data quality findings are detailed in the BSAI Crab EDR Database: Data Quality Summary document, and full documentation for the EDR database is provided in the BSAI Crab Economic Data Report Database METADATA document.
Regulations
- 71 FR 38112, July 5, 2006. Final rule to implement revision of the annual economic data reports (EDRs) submission deadline from May 1 to June 28. Effective on July 5, 2006.
- 71 FR 25808, May 8, 2006. Proposed rule to change the economic data report (EDR) submission deadline date from May 1 to June 28 for the BSAI Crab Rationalization Program. Comment period through May 17, 2006.
Historical Catch Reports
(if required)- Vessel Number and Name of Vessel for Submittal of Historical Catcher Vessel, Crab Economic Data Report for Year 1998, 2001 and 2004
- 70 FR 25549, May 13, 2005. Notice of a Privacy Act System of Records notice for Commerce/NOAA System 16, Crab Economic Data Report for the BSAI management area. Effective Date: May 13, 2005.
- 70 FR 18375, April 12, 2005. Notice to owners and leaseholders of all vessels listed in this document to submit a Historical Catcher Vessel Economic Data Report (EDR) for each vessel that made at least one crab landing in the Crab Rationalization (CR) fisheries in any of the calendar years 1998, 2001, or 2004.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Who is required to submit an annual Economic Data Report (EDR)?
An Economic Data Report (EDR) for annual data for the previous calendar year is required from any owner or leaseholder of a vessel or processing plant that harvested or processed crab in specified Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) crab fisheries.
Why are economic data collection reports required for the BSAI Crab Fisheries?
The Council recommended that a mandatory economic data collection program be developed to assess the economic effects of the Crab Rationalization (CR) Program, and Congress required that the mandatory program be implemented. The BSAI CR Program is comprised of a number of novel aspects, and the Council is interested in ensuring that it will be able to adequately assess the impact of the program on affected parties. Existing data collection programs do not provide the information required to understand the economic performance of crab fishermen, let alone to determine how this performance has changed after rationalization, or what aspects of these changes are specifically attributable to crab rationalization. The EDR data collection program will reduce substantially the types of analytical difficulties that were encountered in the past when attempting to examine the effects of the halibut/sablefish IFQ program and the American Fisheries Act.
Why do the data collection forms ask for such detailed information?
Existing data collection programs fail to collect the employment, cost, and sales data necessary to adequately examine how plants and vessels will be affected by crab rationalization. The Council has expressed a desire to monitor, among other things, how the economic returns of various stakeholders in BSAI crab fisheries are affected by rationalization. This requires the collection of historic data as well as annual data to not only better understand the economic performance of crab fishery participants, but to isolate the effects attributable to the rationalization program. The crab EDRs were specifically developed to fill this knowledge gap and only ask questions that are required to understand harvesters’ and processors’ crab operations.
How much time will I have to compile the information for the report?
The annual EDR is due on June 28.
How should crab harvest cooperative members report IFQ assigned to the cooperative?
Advisory Bulletin to clarify IFQ reporting requirements within the EDR forms.
What are you doing to protect confidentiality, and how are you going to ensure that it does not get to my competitor?
Economic data will not be collected and held by NMFS or the State of Alaska, but instead by a third party (the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, PSMFC). PSMFC will abide by all statutory and regulatory data confidentiality requirements, and will only release the data to NMFS, Council staff, and any other authorized users in a “blind” format. Specifically, all identifiers associated with data submitters will be eliminated and replaced with fictitious vessel and processor identifiers for purposes of analyses. However, in cases where the data are requested by NMFS Enforcement, NOAA General Counsel, the Department of Justice, or the Federal Trade Commission for a purpose connected to law enforcement or qualification for quota and other Federal permits, PSMFC will provide the data and the identity of the submitter.
The EDR collection of information is protected by the following Privacy Act/System of Records: COMMERCE/NOAA-16 - Crab Economic Data Report (EDR) for BSAI off the coast of Alaska. A System of Records is designed to regulate the collection, maintenance, use, and dissemination of information and to protect the privacy of individuals identified in Privacy Act systems.
What are the penalties for failing to turn in forms, or for turning them in late?
Should a submitter fail to submit the EDR to PSMFC for a prior year by the due dates referenced above, NMFS is authorized to withhold issuance or transfer of IPQ or IFQ. Persons submitting the data will have an opportunity to correct errors before enforcement action would be taken. Giving the person submitting data a chance to correct problems is considered important to ensure that accurate data are provided. Only if PSMFC and the person submitting the data cannot reach a solution would NMFS be contacted regarding noncompliance.
How will the data be used?
The EDR data will be used to examine how effort, operating revenues and costs for all parties, that have participated in the BSAI crab fisheries, have been affected by crab rationalization. Specifically, it will be used in meeting the Council’s objectives of examining changes in resource utilization, excess harvesting and processing capacity, economic returns, variable costs and revenues, economic efficiency, and the stability of harvesters, processors and coastal communities.
Who can I contact in case I have questions while filling out the forms?
You may direct your question to the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission by calling their toll-free number (877-741-8913) or emailing them at alaska_crab@psmfc.org.