Charter Business Owner Survey
Prepared by: IPHC Secretariat (B. Hutniczak; last updated: 27 November 2021)
Introduction
This VOLUNTARY and CONFIDENTIAL survey is designed to gather information that characterizes the economic contribution of Pacific halibut sport fishing to all regions covered by the convention establishing the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC).
The intention of the study is to demonstrate the importance of the Pacific halibut resource and businesses that depend on this resource to their respecive communities, but also broader regions. The study will account for the direct impacts of sport fishing as a service provided by charter boats and fly-in lodges, as well as economic activity generated through charter businesses expenditures in various sectors and households spending Pacific halibut-supported wages. To learn more about the IPHC economic study, please visit our website .
There are five main sections to be filled out in this survey: (A) information on your business, (B) business activity information, (C) business revenue and (D) expenditures, (E) regional allocations. The last section includes space for any additional comments you may have.
YOUR RESPONSES WILL BE HELD STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL AND USED ONLY TO ESTIMATE THE ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTIONS OF PACIFIC HALIBUT SPORT FISHERIES TO REGIONS COVERED BY THE IPHC. All individual survey responses will be held by only a limited number of researchers at the IPHC. Only the summary results of this survey will be reported to the public. Your responses and the data collected from this survey will not be seen or used for any other purpose by the IPHC, National Marine Fisheries Service, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, other federal, state, provincial or local agencies, or other parties.
The data you provided is protected by the IPHC DATA CONFIDENTIALITY POLICY AND PROCEDURES of 2 August 2019 available here .
Responses should reflect information for the FISHING SEASON INDICATED BELOW . Filling the survey is estimated to take no more than 30 minutes, including the time for reviewing instructions, gathering the data needed, and completing and reviewing the form. There is no need to verify your answers with logbook or financial records. We ask for your best estimates, based on your general recollection. Word document with all questions can be supplied upon request.
If you prefer to provide information in the form of a structured interview, please write to Barbara.Hutniczak@iphc.int to schedule a call.
Questions and comments can be directed to Barbara Hutniczak, Fisheries Policy & Economics Branch Manager, International Pacific Halibut Commission, at Barbara.Hutniczak@iphc.int or via phone: 206-552-7693.
Thank you for participating in the survey
Question A.2: Information about your business
Question A.3: Information on vessels and lodges operated by your business
Do not include vessels that are operated by other businesses for which you only collect a booking fee.
Question B.1: Business activity
Please provide your best estimates for the listed items, indicating the use of all vessels operated by your business in the selected fishing season (total number if your business operates multiple vessels). There is no need to verify with logbook records.
Note that the indicated number of fish caught and kept will not be used to estimate Pacific halibut biomass removal by the charter sector, but only serve as as in input to the IPHC economic impact study.
Question B.2: Participants
Please indicate your best estimate of the distribution of your saltwater fishing clients by their residency (in % of angler-days), indicating the use of all vessels operated by your business in the selected fishing season. This information may not be recorded, we are asking for your best guess.
The regions are defined as follows:
- AK - Alaska
- WOC - US West Coast, including WA, OR and CA
- US-r - rest of the United States (all US states besides AK, WA, OR, CA)
- BC - British Columbia
- CA-r - rest of Canada (all Canadian provinces besides British Columbia)
- ROW - rest of the world (any country besides Canada or the United States)
- BC - British Columbia
- CA-r - rest of Canada (all Canadian provinces besides British Columbia)
- AK - Alaska
- WOC - US West Coast, including WA, OR and CA
- US-r - rest of the United States (all US states besides AK, WA, OR, CA)
- ROW - rest of the world (any country besides Canada or the United States)
- WOC - US West Coast, including WA, OR and CA
- AK - Alaska
- US-r - rest of the United States (all US states besides AK, WA, OR, CA)
- BC - British Columbia
- CA-r - rest of Canada (all Canadian provinces besides British Columbia)
- ROW - rest of the world (any country besides Canada or the United States)
Question C.1: Information on revenue
Please provide estimated gross revenue (sales or turnover, as the value before tax) generated by your business by the following sources. There is no need to verify with financial records.
Below, estimate the cost of GAF fish.
Revenue (sales or turnover) from saltwater fishing trips [USD]
Below, estimate the cost of XRQ fish.
Revenue (sales or turnover) from saltwater fishing trips [CAD]
Revenue (sales or turnover) from saltwater fishing trips [USD]
Revenue (sales or turnover) from other activities (e.g. whale watching tours, leisure cruises, freshwater fishing trips, lodging or booking fees for boats not operated by your business ) [USD]
Revenue (sales or turnover) from other activities (e.g. whale watching tours, leisure cruises, freshwater fishing trips, lodging or booking fees for boats not operated by your business ) [CAD]
Revenue (sales or turnover) from other activities (e.g. whale watching tours, leisure cruises, freshwater fishing trips, lodging or booking fees for boats not operated by your business ) [USD]
Question C.2: Pacific halibut importance to the business
The next two questions ask about two measures of the importance of Pacific halibut to your business. Please read carefully how each of these measures is defined and provide your best estimate based on your experience in the charter sector.
Also note that these are general measures and should be assessed based on usual activity level - .
Measure 1: Exposure to Pacific halibut - What percentage of your total revenue from saltwater fishing trips (sales or turnover, not profit, as reported in line 1 of question B.3) would you attribute the trips that included Pacific halibut as at least one of the target species. This should be assessed based on what was offered to your customers at the time they decided to participate in the fishing trip, not what was decided on the spot depending on e.g., sea conditions or guide's insight based on previous trips.
Measure 2: Reliance on Pacific halibut - To assess the importance of the Pacific halibut resource to the viability of the recreational fishing sector, we need to understand how the lack of this resource specifically would affect your business. We would like to ask you here to estimate your reliance on the Pacific halibut resource as a percentage of your total revenue from saltwater fishing trips (sales or turnover, not profit, as reported in line 1 of question B.3) you think would be forgone if Pacific halibut was not available. For example, if you think a moratorium on Pacific halibut fishing would cause a 30% decrease in your annual turnover, 30 is your answer. If you think you'd cease activity if Pacific halibut was not available, write 100. If, for any reason, you did not operate during this fishing season, assess this measures based on a typical fishing season Note: This by no means should suggest that Pacific halibut fishing availability is going to change. This question is intended to only measure your self-assessed reliance on the Pacific halibut stock . We are interested in modeling hypothetical shifts between sectors with an intention to present a complete picture of the Pacific halibut economic impact.
Filling this section, please have a look at the plot below created based on your answers to C.1. and D.1. below. Verify whether the calculated profitability aligns with what you would expect.
Question D.1: Business short- and long-run costs
Please fill the following fields with expenditure items related to all activities offered by your business . We ask for your best estimates, based on your general recollection. There is no need for exact accounting.
If expense in any of the categories below does not apply to your business, leave the cell with '0'.
In items 1-3 (labor costs) , indicate payments to vessel operators and guides, on-board crew members, and on-shore employees. Include bonuses and payroll taxes, but exclude owner's net income (i.e. profit), employee benefits (insurance, paid leave, etc.), as well as any employee-paid contributions to fuel, food, management fees or other vessel expenses.
In item 5 (fish handling) , include any handling, processing or packaging costs if these are offered by your business.
In item 11 (services) , include insurance (excluding health insurance paid as employee benefits), professional services (e.g., legal, accounting, advertising, financial), internet and phone service.
In item 12 (other overhead expenses) , include the cost of employee benefits (insurance, paid leave, etc.), travel and meals, utilities (mainly related to land-based activities, e.g., running a booking office or a lodge), general supplies (office supplies), other overhead expenses.
In items 14-15 , include total rental/lease payments, purchases and improvements fully paid for during the selected fishing season, as well as loan payments on purchases and improvements financed during or before the selected fishing season (i.e., debt repayment). This excludes the cost of repair or routine maintenance. Mobile capital includes vessels, fishing gear, other equipment (e.g., personal safety equipment), as well as vehicles used by the business.
Short-run costs [Value in USD]
Short-run costs [Value in CAD]
Labor costs
Item 1: Vessel operators or guides
Item 2: On-board crew members
Item 3: On-shore employees
Operating expenses
Item 4: Vessel fuel
Item 5: Fish handling
Item 6: Broker or agent fees
Item 7: Trip supplies and bait
Item 8: License fees
Overhead expenses
Item 9: Repair and maintenance
Item 10: Haulout and slip expenses
Item 11: Services
Item 12: Other overhead expenses
Long-run costs [Value in USD]
Long-run costs [Value in CAD]
Item 13: Business taxes
Item 14: Mobile capital
Item 15: Buildings, land and other real estate
Question E.1: Created jobs - regional allocation
Please fill the table with the total number of jobs created by your business. Do not include business owners or independent contractors that provide the same service to multiple businesses (e.g., deliveries, marina staff, etc.). If you are an owner-operator, you will be automatically accounted for as a proprietor and you should not be including yourself in this table. Onshore employees can include business manager, guest services, administrative employees, etc. Indicate the residency of employees by filling appropriate columns.
The regions are defined as follows:
- AK - Alaska
- WC - US West Coast, including WA, OR and CA
- RUS - rest of the United States (all US states besides AK, WA, OR, CA)
- BC - British Columbia
- ROC - rest of Canada (all Canadian provinces besides British Columbia)
- ROW - rest of the world (any country besides Canada or the United States)
- BC - British Columbia
- ROC - rest of Canada (all Canadian provinces besides British Columbia)
- AK - Alaska
- WC - US West Coast, including WA, OR and CA
- RUS - rest of the United States (all US states besides AK, WA, OR, CA)
- ROW - rest of the world (any country besides Canada or the United States)
- WC - US West Coast, including WA, OR and CA
- AK - Alaska
- RUS - rest of the United States (all US states besides AK, WA, OR, CA)
- BC - British Columbia
- ROC - rest of Canada (all Canadian provinces besides British Columbia)
- ROW - rest of the world (any country besides Canada or the United States)
Question E.2: Business costs - regional allocation
Please allocate the expenditure items related to all activities offered by your business using the instructions provided below. We ask for your best estimates, based on your general recollection. There is no need for exact accounting.
The columns should include approximate percentage allocation of each expenditure item to each indicated area . The sum should be 100%. For example, 80% of the supplies might have been purchased in Alaska, while the remaining 20% in Washington state (WOC region). Your vessel, while operating in Alaska, may be insured in Seattle (100 % allocated to WOC region). When filling the table, just write numbers ranging from 0 to 100, do not use '%' sign. If expense in any of the categories below does not apply to your business, leave the cell with '0'.
Regions correspond to these in question E.1. The items correspond to these in question D.1.
Comments
Help us understand the full scope of the Pacific halibut contribution to the economy
Would you be willing to distribute information about a different IPHC survey targeting recreational anglers and asking them about their recreational fishing preferences and contribution to the economy beyond the charter sector (e.g., through equipment purchases, travel expenses)? This could be custom made flyers sent to you with information the IPHC web-based survey that you could share with your customers. Please note that this s just a preliminary inquiry. The feasibility of such an endeavor is yet to be determined by the IPHC .