2023 Commercial Fishing Crew Survey

Project Overview

Our Social Sciences Branch has launched a voluntary survey to collect information that will help us examine trends in:

• Commercial fishing vessel crew demographics
• Participation and practices
• Views on fishery management
• Job satisfaction
• Well-being over time 

This information helps inform decision makers about potential social and economic impacts of management decisions. 

This is an intercept-style survey. Our social scientists visit ports in the Northeast’s Greater Atlantic region to interview commercial fishing vessel crews, including hired captains. Participation in our commercial fishing crew survey is voluntary, takes about 10 minutes, and responses are anonymous.

There is little basic demographic information about our region’s commercial fishing crew. Currently, this survey is the only way NOAA Fisheries collects this kind of information. Without it, we can’t understand and predict how fisheries management decisions affect the lives, success, and well-being of commercial fishing crews in our region.

Who Can Participate

Any commercial fishing vessel crew member, including hired captains can participate. 

How to Take the Survey

Crew members have several ways to take our survey:

• In-person: Interview at ports
• Mail: Northeast Fisheries Science Center; c/o Matt Cutler; 166 Water Street; Woods Hole, MA 02543
• Phone: (508) 495-4731
• Online

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Survey Timeline

To ensure that we connect with as many crew as possible, we may shift and/or extend our timeline. We’ll update this web page to reflect any changes. This survey began in April. The current timeline for port visits is: 

• May–September: New Bedford, South Shore, and Cape Cod, Massachusetts
• June: Hampton Bays, Shinnecock, and Montauk, New York 
• July: Portland, Maine and its surrounding communities, and New Jersey 
• August: Bar Harbor, Maine and its surrounding communities, Virginia, and Wanchese and Outer Banks, North Carolina 
• September: Rhode Island, northern Massachusetts, and New Hampshire 

Ports We Will Visit

This interactive map shows the port towns we plan to visit. We may visit additional ports if time and other resources allow.

Information We Will Collect

Examples of specific information we’ll be collecting include:

• Basic demographics 
• Job activities and opportunities 
• Satisfaction with various aspects of the job  
• Wage systems and expenses 
• Attitudes about fisheries management

How We Will Use Survey Data

Survey results will help fisheries scientists and managers better understand what is going on in crew members’ lives and how management decisions may impact commercial fish crews. The data collected in this survey can be used in a variety of ways, including: 

• Informing the fisheries management process
• Documenting trends in commercial crew employment
• Identifying social and economic issues affecting vulnerable populations within our fishing and coastal communities

Responses Are Anonymous and Confidential  

Both participation and individual responses to this survey are anonymous and confidential. No personally identifiable information will be collected. All data appearing on our data visualization tool and in reports will be presented in a manner that protects confidentiality. Individual data can only be accessed by our staff and affiliates who have signed non-disclosure agreements. 

How This Survey Benefits Industry

By participating in this survey, crew members and hired captains can help shape their future, and the future of fisheries management and regulation. We need to better understand what kinds of challenges and threats our region's commercial fishing industry faces. The data this survey collects help us do that, so we can better predict how fisheries management decisions may change the lives, success, and well-being of commercial fishing crew in our region.

Project Team

• Matt Cutler, social scientist
• Kiera Morrill, fisheries social scientist

Survey History, Results, and Data Summaries

This survey was first conducted in 2012, and again in 2018. We’ve also published the results comparing the 2012 survey to the 2018 survey. We will add 2023 survey results once they are published. 

We had 359 participants in the first survey and 478 participants in the second survey. What we’ve learned during our previous surveys:

• Few young people between the ages of 18 and 24 are entering the commercial fishing industry as crew members or hired captains (18 percent in 2012 and 11 percent in 2018)
• Approximately 55 percent to 60 percent of the crew have family in the industry and are second generation or more commercial fishers
• Fewer people are working for vessel owners/operators than in the past (58 percent in 2012 and 43 percent in 2018)
• Large majority of participants disagree or strongly disagree that fishing is “just a job” to them (78 percent in 2012 and 68 percent in 2018)
• Almost half have considered leaving the industry (49 percent in 2012 and 44 percent in 2018)
• Most have never participated in fisheries management activities (68 percent in 2012 and 60 percent in 2018)
• Most agree or strongly agree that commercial fishing rules change too quickly (65 percent in 2012 and 62 percent in 2018) 
• Most think commercial fishing rules are too restrictive (65 percent in 2012 and 52 percent in 2018)