NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — July 30, 2012 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is planning an extensive survey of commercial fishing boat owners and their crews in 15 ports from Maine to North Carolina.
"We're trying to look at the impact of regulations on fishing communities," said Tammy Murphy, an economist with the Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole who is responsible for implementing the data collection.
"We need to look at that in a more direct way than we have before."
The survey is driven by the need for economic data on the total costs of operating commercial fishing businesses, she said.
The surveys have been in development by a team of economists and anthropologists for a year, according to Murphy.
In the first phase of a year-long project, a cost survey will be mailed to approximately 1,700 boat owners between Aug. 1 and Aug. 9.
The survey is voluntary and seeks to analyze the operational costs among different sized vessels in different fisheries, she said.
Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard Times.