Attachment E, List of Potential Questions for Shoreside Processors

Attachment E
List of Potential Questions for Shoreside Processors
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OMB Control No. 0648-0369; Expiration Date: 07/31/2009

Date surveyed completed.
Name of person(s) completing survey.

Question 1. Plant Characteristics
What are the federal and state ID codes for this plant?
What type(s) of processing equipment are available at the plant?
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What is the make of each type?
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What is the model of each type?
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How many of each type?
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What is the expected remaining useful life of each type?
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In what year was the plant purchased?
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In what year was this plant built?
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How much storage space for fish meal does the plant have?
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How much non-cold storage floor space does the plant have?
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What is the processing capacity of the plant by product/species in metric tons (or pounds) per period?
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What is the freezing capacity of the plant in metric tons of product per period?
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How many cubic feet of freezer storage does the plant have?
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Fishery participation:
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What species are processed at this plant?
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What products are produced in the plant?
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By product type, to which markets are products sold?
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What are the sources of fish product? (e.g., domestic vessel deliveries to the plant from the EEZ off the West
Coast; fish landed on the West Coast by domestic fishing vessels and shipped to the plant from other parts of
the West Coast area; domestic fish (fish delivered by domestic fishing vessels) shipped to the West Coast from
outside the area; fish imported from outside the country; fish shipped in from outside the EEZ or Alaska)
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Does the plant have waterfront access for receiving fish?
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Do you process other products besides fish in these plants?
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Question 2. Ownership
Type (e.g., Sole Proprietor, Corporation)
What is the name and contact information for primary owner of the plant?
What is the name of the company that owns this plant?
What is this company's main address?
Who is the primary contact regarding this plants’ operations in the event we need to contact him/her for further
information?
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Please provide contact information for this individual.
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Is this plant owned or leased by the operator?
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Does a management company run this plant?
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If yes, please provide contact information for this company.
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Do the owners of this plant also own catcher vessels?
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If yes, please provide vessel identification.
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Is this plant owned by a company that owns catcher vessels?
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Is this plant owned by a company that owns other plants?
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How much time does the owner(s) spend processing commercially or participating in commercial processing
activities?
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Does the plant employ buyers in other ports?
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Is the plant a processing facility or a buying station?
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Question 3. Capital and Land Costs
The following questions deal with the long-term debt position associated with this plant in year X:
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At the beginning of year X, what was the total debt?
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What new debt was incurred during year X?
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What were the total amount of principal payments made in year X?
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What were the total amount of interest payments made in year X?
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If this plant is owned, what were the total debt/interest expenses in period x?
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If this plant is leased, what were the total lease payments in period x?
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What were the plant's depreciation costs in period x including all gear, equipment and land?
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What is the book value of the plant including all gear, equipment and land?
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What is the estimated market value of the plant including all gear, equipment and land?
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What is the estimated market value of the processing equipment in this plant?

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What is the estimated market value of the land on which this plant sits?
Does this plant have any limited access permits/licenses or quota shares attached to it?
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If yes, what is the estimated market value of each type of licenses/shares?
If you lease limited entry permits:
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How much was spent to lease permits?
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For how long did you lease the permit in year X?
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For which particular fisheries are you leasing the permit?
If you own limited access permits:
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When did you purchase these permits and what was their purchase price?
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What is the estimated current market value of each type of permits/licenses/shares?
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How likely are you to sell your limited access permit if a buyback program were offered?
Very Likely __ Likely __ Not Likely __ Not at all __ Not sure __
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If you were interested in selling your permit, what would be a fair price for your permit?
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If you were interested in selling your permit, what is the minimum amount you would accept for your
permit?
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What is the maximum percent of your West Coast ex-vessel revenues would you be willing to pay to
fund a buyback program?
0% __ 1% __ 2% __ 3% __ 4% __ 5% __
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What is the minimum amount you would accept for a 1-year lease of each of type of
permits/license/shares?
Is there any other capital with a replacement cost greater than $x owned by or associated with this plant?
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If yes, what is it?
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If yes, what is the estimated market value of each type of capital?

Question 4. Annual Operating Costs
Total (fixed and variable) business expenses reported on tax return for this period.
Does this company use an accounting service?
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If yes, please provide the contact information.
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Does this company use a bookkeeping service?
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If yes, please provide contact information.
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In the future would you be willing to allow your accounting or bookkeeping firms to release cost/earnings data
to us an alternative to completing a survey?
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How much was spent during the year on each of the following cost categories in year X:
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overhead expense including association dues, professional fees (legal, financial, accounting, etc.), office
expenses
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fishery landing/business taxes associated with this plant
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income taxes
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other taxes associated with this plant not including income taxes or fishery business taxes based on amount
of fish landed (e.g., property taxes)
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P&I associated with this plant
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other insurance associated with this plant (not including P&I)
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routine plant and equipment maintenance
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non-routine maintenance (i.e., major overhauls, refittings)
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management salaries or fees
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other fixed costs (please give only the total amount for other fixed costs but list below the components of
that total.
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finished product storage
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utilities
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property taxes
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Did the plant lease licenses?
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If yes, how much was spent to lease licenses (by fishery/gear/period)?
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Does this plant operate seasonally?
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If yes, what was cost of opening plant?
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If yes, how much lead time was required to hire crews, etc.?
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Question 5. Operating Costs
By fishery/region per period/unit of product and associated with this plant:
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What were the payments to processing labor?
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What were the salary payments to processing management?
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What were the benefit costs to processing labor?
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What were other payments to labor?
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What were the costs of employee transportation?
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What were labor recruitment costs?

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What were the fuel/lubricant costs and quantities?
What were the plant's utility costs and quantities?
What were the ice costs and quantities?
What were the food costs?
What were the water costs?
What were the product additive costs and quantities?
What were the packaging costs?
What were the bait costs and quantities for each type of bait used?
What were other supply costs?
What were the total loading and unloading costs?
What were the waste disposal costs?
What were the communication costs?
If observers were at the plant, what were the observer costs?
What were shipping costs?
What were the ex-vessel fish costs by species?
In addition to what was paid for fish, did this plant provide any goods or services for deliveries in period x?
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If yes, what types of goods/services did the company provide?
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If yes, what was the approximate cost of the goods/services provided?
Did the plant provide any post-season settlement(s) for fish deliveries?
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If yes, what was the approximate amount of the settlement(s)?
How was each position paid? (e.g., salaries, hourly, share system)
How were processing labor costs calculated?
Does this plant provide or subsidize room and board for employees?
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If yes, what were the costs incurred for this room and board?
For other labor only:
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How much was spent in period x on non-management wages?
How much was spent in period x on management salaries?
How much was spent in period x on benefits?
How much was spent in period x on other labor related costs?
What were labor recruitment costs in period x?
What were labor transportation costs in period x?

Question 6. Effort
Please indicate the number of days in year X the plant spent in each of the following activities:
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active in processing
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shut down for maintenance
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idle due to lack of <> processing opportunities?
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By fishery/season/zone:
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what was the pre-season set-up time?
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how many days were spent processing in an average period?
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how many processing shifts were there per day?
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what was the average length of each shift?
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Question 7. Revenue
What were the ex-processor quantities and prices by species, product form and quality/grade?
What was the ex-processed value of product FOB {insert state, city, e.g., FOBAlaska or FOB Seattle} by
species, product form and quality/grade?
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On average what percentage of plant sales were written off as bad debt expense in period x?
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Did this plant have any other processing related revenue sources in period x?
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If yes, what were they?
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If yes, approximately how much annual revenue did the plant get from each source?
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In addition to what was paid for the fish, were goods or services provided for deliveries made to this plant in
period x?
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If yes, what type(s) of goods/services were provided?
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If yes, what was the approximate value of the goods/services provided?
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Question 8. Opportunity Cost
For each fishery and period in which the plant participated during period x, what would have been the next best
possible use of the plant and how would that have affected profitability?

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Question 9. Regional Impact
For each of the following cost categories please specify the plant’s total annual expenditures; the percentage
expended locally (in the county of the plant's homeport); the percentage expended in state but outside the

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county of the plant's homeport; the percentage expended in region (e.g., Northeast, Mid Atlantic, Southeast,
Gulf, West Coast, Alaska); the percentage expended in other US states; and the percentage expended abroad.
For labor, consider the expenditure to be made in the laborer's county of residence. (This question will be
presented in tabular format.)
Example for West Coast vessel:
Total expenditures in:
Home
county/port

AK

WOC

Home state
Other US

non-US

Plant/Equipment Repair
Fuel & Electric
Food and Supplies
Ice and Bait
Processing wages
Fishery Business or Landings Taxes
Dues and Fees
Insurance
Interest Expense
Licenses
Packaging materials
Transportation
Communication
Moorage
Miscellaneous

Question 10. Labor/Employee/Family
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For each fishery/season provide the positions employed, the average number of workers employed in each
position and how that position was paid.
Employee demographics.
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Name, birth date (age), and contact information.
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Respondent's ancestry or ethnic origin: American Indian or Alaskan native (specify tribe); Asian (specify,
e.g., Cambodian, Vietnamese, Korean); Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander (specify, e.g., Guamese,
Native Hawaiian); Black or African American (black racial groups only) (specify country of ancestry, e.g.,
US, Haitian, South African, Ugandan); White (specify country of ancestry, e.g., Italian, Norwegian,
Portuguese, Lebanese).
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Is the respondent Hispanic or Latino (e.g. Mayan, Mexican, Guatemalan, Salvadoran)?
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Language respondent speaks at home, i.e., English, Spanish, Portuguese, Vietnamese, Korean, Italian
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Percentage of respondent’s annual income from fishing and related industries, e.g., processing, packing,
dealing, gear manufacture, etc.?
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Household income or percentage of household annual income from fishing/fishing related activities, e.g.,
fishing, processing, packing, dealing, gear manufacture, etc.?
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Does the respondent belong to any fishing related organizations?
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If so which one (s)?
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What is the highest degree of level of school the respondent has completed?
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Marital status
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Number of persons in household
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Religion
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Other types of employment engaged in other than fishing
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Months usually engaged in other employment

Question 11. Other
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By fishery:
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Over the past x years how have changes in fishing regulations affected utilization rates, percentage of time
laid up, product recovery rates, product quality and grades, product forms, fixed and variable costs, input
configurations, crew compensation and turnover, plant investments, your processing share?
By fishery/season:
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If the season were extended by x days, would this plant take part in the extended season?
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If yes, what activities would the plant be engaged in if the season was not extended?
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If yes, what would the expected gross and net revenues be for this additional period of fishing?
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If the season were extended by x days, how would the ex-vessel price paid to catcher boats be affected?
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If yes, what would be the maximum number of additional days you would participate in this
fishery/season if it were extended?

If the same quantity of fish were landed and processed over a period x days longer than the past season,
how would utilization rates, product quality, and processing cost per metric ton of product be affected?
By fishery/season, how would processing the same quantity of fish over a period x days longer than last season
affect product recovery rates, product quality, and processing cost per metric ton of product?
By fishery/season, how has processing fish over a period x days longer than another past season affected
product recovery rates, product quality, and processing cost per metric ton of product?
Has this plant participated in any Community Development Quota (CDQ) fisheries?
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If yes, was monetary compensation paid to the quota holder?
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If yes, were quota holders given non-monetary compensation or considerations for the use of their
quota, and if so in what form?
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If yes, what benefits/advantages did the use of a CDQ provide other than additional catch?
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If yes, was the plant obligated to take the entire CDQ contracted for?
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If yes, did the plant pay a higher price for fish caught under the CDQ than fish caught in the openaccess fishery?
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If yes, did the plant receive a higher price for products produced from CDQ fish?
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If yes, were products produced from CDQ fish of a different quality than those produce from non-CDQ
fish of the same species?
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If yes, was the recovery rate different for products processed from CDQ fisheries?
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What measures do you use to assess the financial performance of the plant?
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On the basis of these measures, what has happened to performance over the past x year(s)?
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If financial performance has changed, what are the primary reasons?
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What changes in financial performance can be attributed to changes in fishing regulations?
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What measures of economic performance for the fishery, and fleet as a whole, would be useful in assessing
relative performance over time?
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What additional data (if any) not asked for in this survey might they require?
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Please list the catcher boats that fished on contractual arrangements/market orders for this plant in period x.
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Describe the types of contractual arrangement by which fish were supplied by each catcher boat.
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Please indicate to which of the following the plant sold its products in year X: independent wholesalers,
other processors, marketing branch within the same company that owns the plant, foreign buyers,
restaurants, retailers, consumers.
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What were the estimated recovery rates for each product by species and season?
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What were the estimated costs for each day spent processing by season?
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