1 Introduction

Profit is an important metric in assessing the economic performance of commercial fishing fleets and in evaluating the impacts of proposed regulations. Evaluation of economic impacts is required under a number of laws, including Including the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Executive Order 12866, and the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA).

Within the Northeast United States, commercial revenues are readily available to NOAA Fisheries, as all federally permitted vessels are required to report sales to licensed dealers. Cost data, on the other hand, have generally been the limiting factor in calculating vessel profits. The Northeast Fisheries Science Center conducts a voluntary survey to collect comprehensive cost information from commercial fishing vessel owners. This survey was last implemented during 2023 for costs incurred during calendar year 2022. One of the primary goals of the survey was to calculate vessel-level profits.

Using data primarily collected from the most recent cost survey, this site presents commercial fishing vessel profits during 2022 for those vessels who participated in the survey effort. All information presented follows data confidentiality rules as required under the MSA (at least 3 vessels must be present in each summary group). These snapshots will serve as a performance metric in evaluating the economic impacts of proposed fishery management actions.

1.1 Cost Survey Background

Starting in 2007, the Social Sciences Branch (SSB) of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) has intermittently collected commercial fishing cost information from vessel owners through a voluntary survey. The most recent survey, formally known as the Greater Atlantic Region Commercial Fishing Business Cost Survey for 2022 (hereafter 2022 cost survey), was fielded in March-August 2023 to collect costs incurred by vessel owners during calendar year 2022. The 2022 cost survey was split up into the following sections:

  1. General Information
  2. New/Replacement, Repair/Maintenance, Upgrade and Other Costs for the Selected Vessel
  3. Trip Expenses for the Selected Vessel
  4. Crew Payment System for the Selected Vessel
  5. Overhead Costs
  6. The Value of the Selected Vessel
  7. Quota Costs and Revenues for the Selected Vessel
  8. Completeness of Cost Information
  9. Survey Follow-up Questions

Each owner of a federally permitted commercial fishing vessel that was active in either calendar year 2021 or 2022 received a survey. A total of 2,495 individuals were sent the 2022 cost survey with 422 surveys returned. After accounting for incomplete returned surveys and ineligibles within the sampling frame, the final response rate was 15.0% (371/2,477). For further details on the implementation of the 2022 cost survey see Werner et al. (2025). For more information on early iterations of the cost survey, see Das (2015) and Ardini et al. (2022).