Vol. 14, No. 11 / Direct Losses on the Number of Mississippi Commercial Licenses Sold to Fishing Vessels

ABSTRACT

• This newsletter shows the number of fishing vessel licenses issued by the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources to commercial vessels fishing for crabs, shrimp, oysters, hook and line, and menhaden.
• Commercial licenses for fishing vessels are sold to residents and non-residents. The direct losses to the number of fishing licenses sold were measured by the Mean-Difference Model. Direct losses were observed in the total number of vessel licenses sold from 2019 to 2023 as compared to the benchmark means.
• Severe impacts have been observed on the shrimp and oyster fishing fleets which have not recovered to pre-disaster levels. The total direct losses in licenses sold averaged more than 400 vessels annually from 2019 to 2023, representing about 31 percent of the commercial fleet.
• Each license not sold implies that one fishing vessel is removed from commercial fishing. One captain and at least one crew are out of work and unable to provide the means to support their households.

KEYWORDS

• Commercial fishing licenses, Mississippi commercial fishing boats

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

• This newsletter is a contribution of the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station and the Mississippi State University Extension Service. This material is based upon work that is supported in part by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Hatch project under accession number 100004, and
• Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium using federal funds under Grant NA24OAR4170090 from the National Sea Grant Office, NOAA, U.S. Dept. of Commerce. The statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Sea Grant Program, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce. This newsletter is a Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Publication number MASGP-24-057-11.

SUGGESTED CITATION

• Posadas, Benedict C. 2024. Direct Losses on the Number of Mississippi Commercial Licenses Sold to Fishing Vessels. Mississippi MarkeMaker Newsletter, Vol. 14, No. 11. Mississippi State University Extension and Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Publication number MASGP-24-057-11. November 11, 2024. https://extension.msstate.edu/newsletters/mississippi-marketmaker.

METHODS

• This newsletter shows the number of fishing vessel licenses issued by the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources to commercial vessels fishing for crabs, shrimp, oysters, hook and line, and menhaden. Commercial licenses for fishing vessels are sold to residents and non-residents.
• The annual data on commercial fishing licenses were compiled from Requests for Disclosure of Public Records from 2014 to 2023 to the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources.
• The direct losses to the number of fishing licenses sold were measured by the Mean-Difference Model. Direct loss occurs when current values are below the benchmark values. The benchmark values are the means for the selected benchmark period. The benchmark period selected started from 2014 to 2018.
• The direct losses computed are from 2019 to 2023 and expressed in number and percent of licenses loss sold to crab, shrimp, oyster, and hook and line vessels.

DIRECT LOSS ON TOTAL NUMBER OF COMMERCIAL FISHING VESSEL LICENSES SOLD

• The total number of licenses sold in the benchmark period and from 2019 to 2023 are shown in Figure 1.
• The benchmark mean from 2014 to 2018 was 1,334 licenses.
• The direct losses from 2019 to 2023 which are expressed in number and percent of licenses loss are shown in Fig. 2 and 3.
• The total number of licenses sold from 2019 to 2023 declined about 419 annually or 31 percent of the benchmark mean.

 

DIRECT LOSS ON NUMBER OF COMMERCIAL CRAB VESSEL LICENSES SOLD

 

• The number of crab licenses sold in the benchmark period and from 2019 to 2023 are shown in Figure 4.
• The benchmark period from 2014 to 2018 had 184 crab licenses.
• The direct losses from 2019 to 2023, expressed in number and percentage of license loss, are shown in Fig. 5 and 6.
• Direct loss on crab licenses sold averaged 15 annually, or 8 percent of the benchmark mean.

 

DIRECT LOSS ON NUMBER OF COMMERCIAL SHRIMP VESSEL LICENSES SOLD

 

• The number of licenses sold in the benchmark period and from 2019 to 2023 are shown in Figure 7.
• The benchmark period from 2014 to 2018 had 713 shrimp licenses.
• The direct losses from 2019 to 2023, expressed in number and percentage of license loss, are shown in Fig. 8 and 9.
• Direct loss on crab licenses sold averaged 288 annually or 40 percent of the benchmark mean.

 

DIRECT LOSS ON NUMBER OF COMMERCIAL OYSTER VESSEL LICENSES SOLD

 

• The number of licenses sold in the benchmark period and from 2019 to 2023 are shown in Figure 10.
• The benchmark period from 2014 to 2018 had 265 oyster licenses.
• The direct losses from 2019 to 2023, expressed in number and percentage of license loss, are shown in Fig. 11 and 12.
• Direct loss on crab licenses sold averaged 167 annually, or 63 percent of the benchmark mean.

 

DIRECT LOSS ON NUMBER OF HOOK AND LINE VESSEL LICENSES SOLD

 

• The number of licenses sold in the benchmark period and from 2019 to 2023 are shown in Figure 13.
• The benchmark period from 2014 to 2018 had 164 hook and line licenses.
• The direct losses from 2019 to 2023, expressed in number and percentage of license loss, are shown in Fig. 14 and 15.
• The direct loss on hook and line licenses sold in 2019 was 6 licenses or 3.5 percent of the benchmark mean.

 

NUMBER OF COMMERCIAL LICENSES SOLD TO MENHADEN VESSELS

 

• The number of licenses sold in the benchmark period and from 2019 to 2023 are shown in Figure 16.
• The benchmark period from 2014 to 2018 had 9 menhaden licenses.
• The number of licenses sold to menhaden vessels from 2019 to 2023 exceeds the benchmark mean.
• There were direct losses on menhaden licenses sold from 2019 to 2023.

SUMMARY, LIMITATIONS, AND IMPLICATIONS

• Direct losses were observed in the total number of vessel licenses sold from 2019 to 2023 as compared to the benchmark means.
• Direct losses were observed on the number of vessel licenses sold to crab, shrimp, oyster, and hook and line vessels.
• Severe impacts have been observed on the shrimp and oyster fishing fleets which have not recovered to pre-disaster levels.
• The total direct losses in licenses sold averaged more than 400 vessels per year from 2019 to 2023, representing about 31 percent of the commercial fleet.
• Each license not sold implies that one fishing vessel is removed from commercial fishing. One captain and at least one crew are out of work and unable to provide the means to support their households.

REFERENCES

• Posadas, B. C. Direct Losses on Number of Mississippi Commercial Licenses Sold to Fishing Vessels. Horticulture and Marine Economics Outreach 2024-18. Mississippi State University, Coastal Research and Extension Center, Biloxi, Mississippi. (34 pp). https://youtu.be/EeRlLcr8r5Q.
• Posadas, B. C. Mississippi Commercial Licenses Sold to Fishing Vessels by the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources. Horticulture and Marine Economics Outreach 2024-17. Mississippi State University, Coastal Research and Extension Center, Biloxi, Mississippi. (21 pp). https://youtu.be/UiCIAFnrfSM.

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For accessibility assistance please contact Ben Posadas at ben.posadas@msstate.edu