Why study Alaskan Halibut fishermen?
Alaskan Halibut fishermen live and work in an environment that is full of both uncertainty and risk. They are required to make split-second decisions based on their knowledge and experience in circumstances that can involve unpredictable danger. And these kinds of decisions recur in each of the many fishing trips conducted throughout every halibut season. This combination of consistent activity, high risk, and instant decision-making is rare; and it makes the Alaskan Halibut Fishermen an ideal population for studying “Decision-Making in Uncertain Circumstances.” There are many sources of uncertainty in the fishing industry, however our focus will be the uncertainty surrounding halibut stock abundance and the corresponding catch per skate, or CPUE. We will record halibut fishermen’s beliefs about the CPUE that they expect on fishing trips taken during the 2006 and 2007 seasons. This and other data will enable the researchers to learn how expectations are formed, how choices are made, an
