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Fisheries Economics of the United States — Glossary

Glossary for the Fisheries Economics of the United States annual report.

National

Table of Contents

Angler

A person catching fish with no intent to sell, including people releasing the catch. Also known as a recreational fisherman.

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Annual Payroll

Includes all forms of compensation such as salaries, wages, reported tips, commissions, bonuses, vacation allowances, sick-leave pay, employee contributions to qualified pension plans, and the value of taxable fringe benefits. For corporations, it includes amounts paid to officers and executives; for unincorporated businesses, it does not include profit or other compensation of proprietors or partners. Payroll is reported before deductions for Social Security, income tax, insurance, union dues, etc.

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Annual Receipts

Includes gross receipts, sales, commissions, and income from trades and businesses, as reported on annual business income tax returns. Business income consists of all payments received for services rendered by non-employer businesses, such as payments received as independent agents and contractors. The composition of non-employer receipts may differ from receipts data published for employer establishments. For example, for wholesale agents and brokers without payroll (non-employers), the receipts item contains commissions or earnings. In contrast, for wholesale agents and brokers with payroll (employers), the sales and receipts item published in the Economic Census represents the value of the goods involved in the transactions.

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Buyback Program

A management tool available to fishery managers intended to ease fishing-related pressure on marine resources. Fishing vessels are purchased by the government or by the fishing industry itself. Then they are removed from a specific fishery where fish stocks or stock complexes are considered overfished or subject to overfishing.

Bycatch

Species other than the primary target species that are caught incidental to the harvest of the primary species. Bycatch may be retained or discarded; discards may occur for regulatory or economic reasons.

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Catch

  1. To undertake any activity that results in taking fish out of its environment dead or alive, or to bring fish on board a vessel dead or alive.
  2. The total number (or weight) of fish caught by fishing operations. Catch should include all fish killed by the act of fishing, not just those landed; for this report, recreational catch refers to the total number of individual fish released (thrown back into the sea) and harvested (not thrown back into the sea) by recreational fishermen (anglers).

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Catch Share Program

This is a generic term used to describe a fishery management program that allocates a specific portion of the total fishery catch to individuals, cooperatives, communities, or other entities, including sectors. The term encompasses more specific programs defined in legislation such as Limited Access Privilege Programs (LAPPs) and Individual Fishing Quotas (IFQs). Note that a catch share allocated to a sector is different from a general sectoral allocation or distribution to an entire segment of a fishery (such as a recreational sector allocation or a longline gear sector allocation). The two differ because the recipient of the catch share is responsible for terminating fishing activity when their specific share is reached.

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Coastal County

Counties with borders that are within 25 miles of the coast are considered coastal. All counties in Rhode Island, Connecticut, Delaware, and Florida are considered coastal.

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Coastal County Angler

For this report, a coastal county angler refers to a recreational fisherman who lives within a given state and within a coastal county of that state.

Commercial Fisheries

In this report, commercial fisheries refer to fishing operations that sell their catch for profit. The term does not include subsistence fishermen or saltwater anglers who fish for sport. It also excludes the for-hire sector, which earns its revenue from selling recreational fishing trips to saltwater anglers. The commercial fisheries section reports on economic impacts, landings revenue, landings, and ex-vessel prices of key species/species groups.

Commercial Fishing Location Quotient (CFLQ)

For this report, the CFLQ is calculated as the ratio of a state’s distribution of employment in commercial fishing industries compared with the distribution of commercial fishing industries in the United States. The CFLQ is calculated using the “Location Quotient Calculator” provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor.

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Community Development Quota Program (CDQ)

A program in western Alaska under which a percentage of the total allowable catch (TAC) of Bering Sea commercial fisheries is allocated to specific communities. Communities eligible for this program must be located within 50 miles of the Bering Sea coast or on an island within the Bering Sea; meet criteria established by the State of Alaska; be a village certified by the Secretary of the Interior pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act; and consist of residents who conduct more than half of their current commercial or subsistence fishing in the Bering Sea or waters surrounding the Aleutian Islands. Currently 7.5 percent of the TAC in the pollock, halibut, sablefish, crab and groundfish fisheries is allocated to the CDQ Program.

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Dedicated Access Privileges (DAPs)

As defined by the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, a DAP program assigns an individual or other entity access to a predetermined portion of the annual catch in a particular fishery. In some cases, the privilege is transferable and may be bought and sold, creating a market. The term encompasses a range of tools, including access privileges assigned to individuals (that is, individual transferable quotas), and to groups or communities (for example, community development quotas, cooperatives, and area-based quotas). DAP is often synonymous with Limited Access Privilege Programs (see “Limited Access Privilege Program”) and are sometimes referred to as rights-based management. However, “rights-based management” implies granting an individual the “right” to fish. Apart from certain tribes, U.S. fishermen do not have inalienable rights to fish because the fishery resources of the U.S. belong to all people of the U.S. Under current law, fishermen are granted a “privilege” to fish, subject to certain conditions.

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Discards

To release or return a fish or other species to the sea, dead or alive, whether or not such fish or other species are brought fully on board a fishing vessel. Estimates of discards can be made in a variety of ways, including samples from observers and logbook records. Fish (or parts of fish) can be discarded for a variety of reasons such as having physical damage, being a non-target species for the trip, and compliance with management regulations like minimum size limits or quotas.

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Durable Equipment Expenditures or Durable Goods Expenditures

For this report, this term refers to expenses related to equipment used for recreational fishing activities. These expenses include the purchase of semi-durable goods (e.g., tackle, rods, reels, line); durable goods (e.g., motor boats and accessories, non-motorized boats, boating electronics, mooring, boat storage, boat insurance, vehicles, second homes); and angling accessories and multi-purpose items (e.g., magazines, club dues, saltwater angling-specific clothing, camping gear).

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Ecolabel

In fisheries, ecolabelling schemes entitle a fishery product to bear a distinctive logo or statement that certifies that the fish has been harvested in compliance with specified conservation and sustainability standards. The logo or statement is intended to facilitate informed decisions by purchasers whose choices may promote and stimulate the sustainable use of fishery resources.

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Economic Impact Model

Economic impact models capture how sales in a sector generate economic impacts directly in the sector in which the sale was made. The sales then ripple throughout the state and national economies as each dollar spent generates additional sales by other firms and consumers. The NOAA Fisheries Commercial Fishing & Seafood Industry Input/Output Model uses an IMPLAN platform to estimate the economic impacts associated with the harvesting of fish by U.S. commercial fishermen and other major components of the U.S. seafood industry. As used here, the term fish refers to the entire range of finfish, shellfish, and other life (that is, sea urchins, seaweed, kelp and worms) from marine and freshwaters that are included in the landings data maintained by the National Marine Fisheries Service. The NOAA Fisheries Recreational Economic Impact Model, which also uses an IMPLAN platform, estimates the economic impacts generated by expenditures made by marine (saltwater) anglers.

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Economic Impacts

For this report, the economic impacts of the commercial fishing sector and seafood industry refer to the employment (full-time and part-time jobs), personal income, and output (sales by U.S. businesses) generated by the commercial harvest sector and other major components of the U.S. seafood industry. These components include processors and dealers, wholesalers and distributors, grocers, and restaurants. Economic impacts of recreational fishing activities refer to the amount of sales generated, the number of jobs supported, labor income, and the contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) by state (also known as value-added impacts) from expenditures related to recreational fishing.

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Effort

For this report, effort refers to the number of angler trips taken by recreational fishermen (anglers). An angler trip is defined as any part of a single day (24 hours) of marine recreational fishing.

Employee Compensation

This is related to gross domestic product (GDP) by state and is an estimate of the sum of employee wages and salaries and supplements to wages and salaries. Wages and salaries are measured on an accrual, or “when earned” basis, which may be different from the measure of wages and salaries measured on a disbursement, or “when paid” basis. Wages and salaries and supplements of federal military and civilian government employees stationed abroad are excluded from the measure of GDP by state.

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Employer Establishments

Businesses with payroll and paid employees with a single physical location at which business is conducted or services or industrial operations are performed. An employee establishment is not necessarily identical to a company or enterprise, which may consist of one or more establishments. When two or more activities are carried on at a single location under a single ownership, all activities generally are grouped together as a single establishment. The entire establishment is classified on the basis of its major activity, and all data are included in that classification.

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Employment Impacts

Employment is specified on the basis of full-time and part-time jobs supported directly or indirectly by the purchases made by anglers or by the commercial harvest and seafood sector economic activity. This impact is measured in the number of full and part-time jobs.  

Endangered Species

As defined by the Endangered Species Act (ESA), an endangered species is any species which is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range. See also “Threatened Species.”

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Endangered Species Act (ESA)

The ESA was signed on December 28, 1973 and provides for the conservation of species that are endangered or threatened throughout all or a significant portion of their range, and the conservation of the ecosystems on which they depend. The ESA replaced the Endangered Species Conservation Act of 1969. Congress has amended the ESA several times.

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Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)

The EEZ is the area that extends 200 nautical miles from the seaward boundary of the coastal states. The seaward boundary for most states is 3 nautical miles with the exceptions of Texas, Puerto Rico, and the Gulf Coast of Florida, which is 9 nautical miles. The U.S. claims and exercises sovereign rights and exclusive fishery management authority over all fish and continental shelf resources through this 200-nautical-mile boundary.

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Expenditures

For this report, expenditures are related to recreational fishing activities and described as being one of two types: 1) expenditures related to a specific fishing trip; or 2) durable equipment expenditures.

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Fish Stock

A fish stock refers to the living resources in the community or population from which catches are taken in a fishery. The term “fish stock” usually implies that the particular population is more or less isolated from other stocks of the same species and hence self-sustaining. In a particular fishery, the fish stock may be one or several species of fish. Here, it also includes commercial invertebrates and plants.

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Fishery Management Council (FMC) or Regional Fishery Management Council

A regional fisheries management body established by the Magnuson-Stevens Act to manage fishery resources in eight designated regions of the United States.

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Fishery Management Plan (FMP)

  1. A document prepared under supervision of the appropriate fishery management council (FMC) for the management of stocks of fish judged to require management. The plan generally must be formally approved. An FMP includes data, analyses, and management measures.
  2. A plan containing conservation and management measures for fishery resources, and other provisions required by the Magnuson-Stevens Act, developed by fishery management councils or the Secretary of Commerce.

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Fishing Cooperatives

A market-based fisheries management tool where access to fisheries resources is limited to a specific group of fishermen. See also “Catch Share Program.”

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Fishing Day

For this report, a fishing day refers to a partial or full day spent in recreational fishing. This term is used in the Alaska recreational fishing tables.

Fishing Effort

The amount of fishing gear of a specific type used on the fishing grounds over a given unit of time. For example, hours trawled per day, number of hooks set per day, or number of hauls of a beach seine per day. When two or more kinds of gear are used, the respective efforts must be adjusted to some standard type before being added. For recreational fishing activities, fishing effort refers to the number of fishing trips made by recreational anglers.

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Fishing Mode

For this report, fishing mode refers to the type of recreational fishing a recreational fisherman (angler) engages in, such as fishing from shore, a private or rental boat, or a for-hire boat.

Fishing Trip

For this report, a fishing trip is defined as an angler trip. An angler trip is defined as any part of a single day (24 hours) of marine recreational fishing. Fishing trips are classified as occurring in one of three fishing modes: 1) a shore-based fishing trip; 2) by a private or rental boat; or 3) on a for-hire fishing boat.

For-Hire Mode

For this report, this fishing mode refers to trips taken by recreational fishermen (anglers) on a party (also referred to as a head boat) or charter boat. In the Gulf and South Atlantic, for-hire mode does not include head boats.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by State or Gross State Product (GSP)

Previously known as the Gross State Product, the GDP by state is the value added in production by the labor and capital located in a state. GDP for a state is derived as the sum of the GDP originating in all industries in the state.

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Harvest

The total number or weight of fish caught and kept from an area over a period of time. Note that landings, catch, and harvest are different. However, in Hawaiʻi and the Gulf states, recreational harvest includes fish thrown back dead. See also “Catch” and “Release.”

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Income Impacts

Income impacts include personal income (wages and salaries) and proprietors’ income (income from self-employment).

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Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ)

A type of limited entry; an allocation to an individual (a person or a legal entity, for example, a vessel owner or company) of a right (privilege) to harvest a certain amount of fish in a certain period of time. It is also often expressed as an individual share of an aggregate quota, or total allowable catch (TAC). See also “Individual Transferable Quota” and “Catch Share Program.”

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Individual Transferable Quota (ITQ)

A type of individual fishing quota (IFQ) allocated to individual fishermen or vessel owners that can be transferred (sold or leased) to others. See also “Individual Fishing Quota.”

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Industry Sector

For this report, fishing- and marine-related industries were combined into industry sectors. Two industry sectors were included in this report: 1) seafood sales and processing; and 2) transport, support, and marine operations. Fishing and marine-related industries were chosen from the County Business Patterns Data Series based on data availability and perceived relevance to fishing or marine activities. These industries were then combined into one of these two industry sectors.

Key Species or Species Groups

For this report, up to 10 species or species groups were chosen as “key” species or species groups due to their regional importance to commercial and recreational fisheries. The regional importance of these key species or species groups was chosen based on their economic and/or historical or cultural significance to a state or region.

Landing Revenues

The dollar value of commercial fisheries landings.

Landings

  1. The number or poundage of fish unloaded by commercial fishermen or brought to shore by recreational fishermen for personal use. Landings are reported at the locations at which fish are brought to shore.
  2. The part of the catch that is selected and kept during the sorting procedures on board vessels and successively discharged at dockside.

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License Limitation Program or Limited Entry Program

A management tool available to fishery managers where the number of commercial fishermen or vessels licensed to participate in a fishery is legally restricted. A management agency often uses this management tool to limit entry into a fishery.

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Limited Access Privilege Program (LAPP) or Limited Access Privilege System

As defined in the Magnuson-Stevens Act, LAPPs limit participation in a fishery to those satisfying certain eligibility criteria or requirements contained in a fishery management plan (FMP) or associated regulation. A limited access privilege is a federal permit, issued as part of a limited access system, to harvest a quantity of fish expressed by a unit or units representing a portion of the total allowable catch (TAC) of the fishery that may be received or held for exclusive use by a person. A LAPP includes an individual fishing quota (IFQ) or individual tradable quota (ITQ) but does not include community development quotas (CDQs). LAPPs are sometimes known as Dedicated Access Privileges (DAPs). However, unlike LAPPs, DAPs generally encompass CDQs as well as IFQs (see “Dedicated Access Privileges”). LAPPs are a type of catch share program. See also “Catch Share Program.”

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Limited Entry Program

Also known as a license limitation program; see “License Limitation Program.”

Location Quotient

Location Quotients (LQs) are ratios that allow an area’s distribution of employment by industry to be compared to a reference or base area’s distribution. The reference area is usually the United States, but it can also be a state or metropolitan area. The reference or base industry is usually the all-industry total. LQs also allow areas to be easily compared with each other. If an LQ is equal to 1, then the industry has the same share of its area employment as it does in the reference area. An LQ greater than 1 indicates an industry with a greater share of the local area employment than in the reference area.

For example (assuming the U.S. as the reference area), Las Vegas will have an LQ greater than 1 in the Leisure and Hospitality industry, because this industry makes up a larger share of the Las Vegas employment total than it does for the country as a whole. LQs are calculated by first dividing local industry employment by the all-industry total of local employment. Next, reference area industry employment is divided by the all-industry total for the reference area. Finally, the local ratio is divided by the reference area ratio.

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Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act or Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA)

Federal legislation responsible for establishing the Regional Fishery Management Councils (FMCs) and the mandatory and discretionary guidelines for federal fishery management plans (FMPs). This legislation was originally enacted in 1976 as the Fishery Management and Conservation Act. Its name was changed to the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act in 1980, and in 1996 it was renamed the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

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Market-Based Management

Market-based management is an umbrella term that encompasses approaches that provide economic incentives to protect fisheries from overharvest. These approaches contrast with conventional fisheries management approaches, such as buyback programs and license limitation programs (see “Buyback Program” and “License Limitation Program”). One example of a market-based management approach for fisheries is a limited access privilege program (LAPP; see “Limited Access Privilege Program”) that includes an individual fishing quota. A LAPP provides individual fishermen an exclusive, market-based share of a harvest quota or total allowable catch (TAC) of a fishery.

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Marine Coastal County

For this report, a marine coastal county is a coastal county that is adjacent to an ocean coastline. See also “Coastal County.”

Marine Economy

For this report, the marine economy refers to the economic activity generated by fishing- and marine-related industries located in a coastal state. Fishing- and marine-related industries were chosen from industries defined in the County Business Patterns Data Series provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. Industries listed in this report were chosen based on that industry’s direct contribution to fishing and marine activities, and whether data were available for that industry. Information such as the number of establishments, number of employees, and annual payroll for these fishing and marine-related industries was used to determine their relative levels of economic activity in a state. These industries were categorized into one of two industry sectors: 1) seafood sales and processing; and 2) transport, support, and marine operations. See also “Industry Sector.”

Non-Coastal County Angler

For this report, a non-coastal county angler refers to a recreational fisherman who lives within a given state but not in a coastal county of that state.

Non-Employer Firms

A non-employer business is one that has no paid employees, has annual business receipts of $1,000 or more ($1 or more in the construction industries), and is subject to federal income taxes. Most non-employers are self-employed individuals operating very small unincorporated businesses that may or may not be the owner’s principal source of income.

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Non-Resident Angler

For this report, a non-resident in the U.S. table refers to a recreational fisherman (angler) who resides outside the United States; a non-resident in the regional and state tables refers to an angler who did not reside in the state where they fished.

Out-of-State Angler

For this report, an out-of-state angler is a recreational fisherman (angler) who does not reside within a given coastal state.

Overcapacity

When the harvesting capability within a given fishery exceeds the level of harvest allowed for that fishery.

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Overcapitalization

When the amount of harvesting capacity in a fishery exceeds the amount needed to harvest the desired amount of fish at least cost.

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Overfished

  1. An overfished stock or stock complex “whose size is sufficiently small that a change in management practices is required to achieve an appropriate level and rate of rebuilding.” A stock or stock complex is considered overfished when its population size falls below the minimum stock size threshold (MSST). A rebuilding plan is required for stocks that are deemed overfished.
  2. A stock is considered overfished when exploited beyond an explicit limit past which its abundance is considered “too low” to ensure safe reproduction. In many fisheries, the term is used when biomass has been estimated to be below a biological reference point that is used as the signpost defining an “overfished condition.”

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Overfishing

  1. According to the National Standard Guidelines, “overfishing occurs whenever a stock or stock complex is subjected to a rate or level of fishing mortality that jeopardizes the capacity of a stock or stock complex to produce maximum sustainable yield (MSY) on a continuing basis.” Overfishing is occurring if the maximum fishing mortality threshold (MFMT) is exceeded for 1 year or more.
  2. In general, the action of exerting fishing pressure (fishing intensity) beyond the agreed optimum level. A reduction of fishing pressure would, in the medium term, lead to an increase in the total catch.

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Protected Species

Refers to any species that is protected by either the Endangered Species Act (ESA) or the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), and that is under the jurisdiction of NOAA Fisheries. This total includes all threatened, endangered, and candidate species, as well as all cetaceans and pinnipeds, excluding walruses.

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Real Dollars

Real dollars (also known as constant dollars) is a term describing income after adjustment for inflation. Real-dollar value (also known as constant-dollar value) is a value expressed in dollars adjusted for purchasing power. Real-dollar values represent an effort to remove the effects of price changes from statistical series reported in dollar terms.

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Recreational Fisheries

Recreational fishing refers to fishing for leisure rather than to sell fish (commercial fishing) or for subsistence. The economic contributions or impacts of recreational fishing activities in the United States is based on spending by recreational anglers.

Regional Fishery Management Council or Fishery Management Council (FMC)

The Magnuson-Stevens Act established eight Regional FMCs around the United States. Each council consists of voting and non-voting members who represent various federal, state, and tribal governments; fishing industry groups (commercial and/or recreational); and non-fishing groups (such as environmental organizations and academic institutions). Each council is tasked with creating fishery management plans for important fisheries within their regions.

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Release

For this report, release refers to the number of individual fish caught by a recreational fisherman (angler) that are then returned to the sea (dead or alive). In Hawaiʻi and the Atlantic and Gulf states, release does not include fish returned to the sea that are dead. See also “Catch” and “Harvest.”

Resident

For this report, a resident in the U.S. table refers to a recreational fisherman (angler) who resides inside the United States; a resident in the regional and state tables refers to an angler who resides in the state where they fished.

Sales Impacts

Sales impacts refer to the gross value of all sales by regional businesses affected by an activity, such as recreational or commercial fishing. For example, it includes both the direct sales made by the angler (commercial fisherman) and sales made between businesses and households resulting from that original sale by the angler (commercial fisherman).

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Sector Allocation Program

A fisheries management tool where a group of fishermen are allocated a quota or share of a total allowable catch (TAC), in accordance with an approved plan. This program is considered a type of catch share program. See also “Catch Share Program.”

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Species

A group of animals or plants having common characteristics that are able to breed together to produce fertile (capable of reproducing) offspring and maintain their “separateness” from other groups.

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Species Group

Group of species considered together because they are difficult to differentiate without detailed examination (very similar species), or because data for the separate species are not available (for example, in fishery statistics or commercial categories).

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Threatened Species

As defined by the Endangered Species Act (ESA), a threatened species is any species that is likely to become an endangered species within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range. See also “Endangered Species.”

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Total Annual Durable Expenditures

Total annual durable expenditures were estimated by multiplying mean durable expenditures by the estimated annual number of adult participants at the state level or the national level and adjusted by the Consumer Price Index to the current year.

Total Annual Trip Expenditures

Total annual trip expenditures are estimated at the state level by multiplying mean trip expenditures by the estimated number of adult trips in each trip mode (for-hire, private boat, and shore) and adjusted by the Consumer Price Index to the current year. The trip expenditures at the national level is the sum of state trip expenditures in each mode.

Trip Expenditures

For this report, trip expenditures refer to expenses incurred by recreational fishermen (anglers) on a fishing trip. Trip expenditures include expenditures made by residents (individuals who reside in a coastal or non-coastal county within a given state; a U.S. resident) and non-residents (individuals who do not reside within the United States).

Value-Added Impacts

Value-Added impacts refer to the contribution made to the gross domestic product in a region from commercial fishing landings and recreational fishing expenditures.

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Last updated by Office of Science and Technology on 01/17/2024