The work of Dr. U.R. Sumaila, Director of the Fisheries Centre and the Fisheries Economics Research Unit (FERU), is cited in the 2010 version of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Budget Blue Book.
The document, which is available on-line from NOAA, reports Dr. Sumaila’s research as showing that
“…. the net present value (NPV) of 17 stocks that have implemented rebuilding plans is estimated to be three times higher that the NPV of the same stocks ifthey are not rebuilt, but continue to be harvested at current levels. The total catch in rebuilt stocks was estimated to be2.5 times greater than if the stocksare not rebuilt. Positive economic factors from rebuilding included the catch from higher-value stocks increasing proportionally more than catches fromless valuable stocks and the catch per unit of the rebuilt stocks delivering higher net benefits because it cost less to catch the fish.”
This influential document goes on to use Dr. Sumaila’s work a second time supporting the conclusion that
“Implementing fishery rebuilding plans will likely result in
increased net economic benefits for U.S. stocks that are currently
overfished.”
The original 2005 research report by Dr. Sumaila and Elizabeth Suatoni is available in our publication section while the full NOAA document is available through that organization. A summary of the NOAA budget documents is also available through the NOAA website.