636975-220 Not Res Introduction 2-12-68

GENERAL This report presents results of the census of commercial fisheries for the calendar year 1963, and is based on a survey conducted by the Bureau of the Census, Department of Commerce, in cooperation with the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, Department of Interior. The 1963 Census of Commercial Fisheries is the first such census undertaken since 1908. Prior to the 1908 census, there were two census surveys of commercial fisheries, one in 1889 and the other in 1880.

SURVEY MAILING LIST-The 1963 census was based primarily on a mail canvass of commercial fishing establishments with one or more paid employees, as defined in the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC)1. Supplemental surveys were conducted covering (1) fishing fleets operated by canneries and other fish processors, and (2) commercial fishing operators without paid employees.

When preliminary tabulations revealed incompleteness in the original mailing lists, a supplemental survey was conducted for 1964, based on a list of commercial fishing vessels maintained by the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries. The census thus accounted, in effect, for all of the vessels (defined as craft or more than 5 tons capacity) on this list which were primarily engaged in commercial fishing. Vessels determined to have been engaged in sports fishing, hauling fish, etc., were excluded from the census.

OPERATORS WITH PAID EMPLOYEESThe initial canvass covered operators with paid employees who were primarily engaged in commercial fishing, as defined in the 1957 edition of the Standard Industrial Classification Manual, as amended to date. This SIC system of individual classification was developed over a period of years by experts on classification in government and private industry under guidance of the Bureau of the Budget. The SIC system is in general use in government agencies and outside of government.

The source of addresses for commercial fishing operators was the "employer master file" of establishments with paid employees maintained by the Social Security Administration. A 1963 Census of Commercial Fisheries questionnaire (census form FC-09A) was mailed to commercial fishing operators in the following SIC industries: 0912, Finfish; 0913, Shellfish; 0914, Whale Products; and 0919,

I See Standard Industrial Classification Manual, 1957, and Supplement to 1957 Edition, 1963, Bureau of the Budget, Executive Office of the President.

Miscellaneous Marine Products. In addition, a "precanvass" report form (FC-P1) was mailed to about 400 large manufacturing establishments primarily engaged in one of the following SIC industries: 2031, Canned and Cured Seafoods; 2036, Fresh and Frozen Packaged Fish; and 2095 (old SIC), Animal and Marine Fats and Oils, Except Grease and Tallow. The precanvass inquiry was also mailed to wholesale establishments having at least one establishment with over $2 million in sales and engaging primarily in the distribution of fish and seafood. The precanvass was designed to ascertain whether these establishments were engaged in commercial fishing. The census form FC-09A was later mailed to those replying in the affirmative.

The initial survey on form FC-09A accounted for about 5,000 vessels. A list of the vessels from the 1963 census was prepared and checked against the larger list of commercial fishing vessels maintained by the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries. The owners and operators of the vessels not covered in the initial survey were canvassed on a 1964 Supplemental Vessel Inquiry report (census form FC64-L1). The data received on this form were combined with that from form FC09A.

OPERATORS WITHOUT PAID EMPLOYEES Information for this group was obtained from 1963 Federal income tax returns on Schedule C of Form 1040. A 50-percent sample of these schedules was selected and the tabulated results multiplied by 2. Table 1 shows data for "operators without paid employees" based on the tabulated gross receipts of Schedule C respondents whose principal business activity was given as fishing or an equivalent description. The statistics for this group of operators appear only in this table.

A small subsample of the Schedule C reports was selected and checked for duplication against census form FC-09A. This check indicated that there is approximately 4-percent duplication in the total number of operating units shown in table 1. The duplication in value of receipts would be considerably less.

Part-time fishing operators (those whose principal income was from activities other than fishing) were represented in the sample of operators without paid employees only if their principal business activity was described on Schedule C as fishing. It is probable that many part-time fishermen did not file Schedule C. The Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, for example, re

1

ports that about 50,000 boats are engaged in commercial fishing, but the Schedule C returns accounted for only about 14,000. It is reasonable to assume that many of the other 36,000 boats were operated by part-time fishermen; however, these parttime operators account for less than 10 percent of commercial fishing activity.

COVERAGE: RECEIPTS-A comparison of the gross receipts ($339 million) reported in the 1963 Census of Commercial Fisheries with the value of catch ($377 million) reported by the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries for 1963 indicated that the census covered about 90 percent of the commercial fishing activity in the United States. The difference between these values appears to be accounted for by the exclusion of some part-time fishermen without paid employees and also, to some extent, by fishing activities carried on by small establishments processing or handling fish. As noted above, commercial fishing activities at large processing or handling establishments (both manufacturing and wholesale) were surveyed in the precanvass and all commercial fishing vessels (craft with a gross tonnage of 5 tons or more) were included in census coverage.

COVERAGE: VESSELS-In 1963, records of the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries showed there were 11,928 vessels engaged in commercial fishing, but the 1963 Census of Com

mercial Fisheries indicated there were only 10,666 such vessels. The difference in number of vessels is accounted for by different definitions used to describe a commercial fishing vessel. A commercial fishing vessel, in the 1963 Census of Commercial Fisheries, is a vessel with receipts primarily derived from commercial fishing. The Bureau of Commercial Fisheries figures include vessels engaged in commercial fishing during any part of the year, even though the primary activity for the year may have been sports fishing or the transportation of fish.

CONFIDENTIALITY OF DATA FOR INDIVIDUAL COMMERCIAL FISHING VESSEL OPERATORSThe Bureau of the Census is prohibited by law from publishing any statistics that disclose information reported by individual commercial fishing vessel operators. In suppressing figures to avoid disclosing such information, geographic region and division data are given precedence over individual State data.

APPENDIXES-Appendixes A and B provide additional help in using the data shown in the tables. Appendix A, Explanation of Terms, presents definitions of items and terms used in the tables. Appendix B, Census Reporting Forms, contains facsimiles of the forms used in the collection of the data. Appendix C gives the authorization and provisions of the law relating to the census.

2