Earlier this week, The Hamilton Project hosted a forum at Brookings to discuss new opportunities for improving the economic prosperity and long-term sustainability of the U.S. fishing industry. The Project released two new papers: (1) an economic overview of the U.S. fishing industry, and (2) a new paper by economist Christopher Costello of UC Santa Barbara proposing amendments to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act requiring that fisheries meeting certain criteria be required to undertake a comparison of the economic, social, and ecological trade-offs between status quo management and alternative management structures, including catch shares.
In a roundtable around the new proposal, Costello was joined by Lee Crockett, Director of U.S. Oceans at the Pew Charitable Trusts; John Mimikakis, Associate Vice President of Oceans at the Environmental Defense Fund; John Pappalardo, Executive Director of the Cape Cod Commercial Fisherman’s Alliance; and Captain Steve Tomeny of Steve Tomeny Charters. Melissa Kearney, Director of The Hamilton Project, moderated the roundtable. The program opened with remarks by former U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin.
Links to audio and video of the roundtable discussion, and the new papers, can be found below: