SUSAN HANNA - RESEARCH FOCUS 2000-2001

Marine Fisheries Management and Policy:

Activities in the past year have focused on four themes: research on improving fishery management, education/outreach on science and policy, program support, and professional service.

Research on Improving Fishery Management

Research on improving fishery management concentrated on developing incentives for improving the performance of fishery management, understanding economic aspects of institutional design for fisheries, clarifying the economic history of fisheries, and integrating economics and biology in performance indicators for fishery management.

Developing incentives for improving fishery management was approached through a Sea Grant funded project that involves the synthesis of information on market-based incentives for natural resource management and the application of this knowledge to fisheries. Effort during the past year has concentrated on collecting information on incentive programs and writing a report analyzing their use. The next step is to form an interdisciplinary working group to apply this knowledge to a west coast fishery management problem.

Understanding the economic aspects of institutional design was approached through the investigation of applying property rights incentives to the design and implementation of marine protected areas (MPAs), resulting in two lectures on this subject. It was also addressed through an analysis of incentive problems in the institutional design for Pacific Northwest salmon ecosystems, which resulted in a paper delivered at a Portland State University conference "What We Don't Know about Pacific Northwest Fish Runs: An Inquiry Into Decision-Making Under Uncertainty. Issues of institutional design were also addressed through a presentation on developing fishery management institutions given at a meeting of the OSU/Russia Far East Joint Fisheries Research Planning Steering Committee. Background materials on the US fishery management structure and taxes and subsidies affecting U.S. fisheries were prepared for a subsequent meeting on Sakhalin Island.

Clarifying the economic history of fisheries was approached through the development of three papers on the historical development of US and Pacific fishery policy. One paper - Economics and the History of Pacific Fishery Management - was presented at the conference of the International Institute of Fisheries Economics and Trade. The second paper - Transition in the American Fishing Commons - was presented at the conference of the International Association for the Study of Common Property. The third paper - Construction and Destruction of Boundaries in American Fishery Policy - was presented at the 8th International Symposium on Society and resource Management.

Integrating economics and biology in performance indicators for fishery management was approached through the development of a white paper, participation in a working group, and development of a research grant proposal. A white paper - Connecting Ecological and Human Systems: Major Issues for a Research Agenda - was presented at a research planning workshop of the National Science Foundation. I also contributed to the development of a European/US research plan on integrated biological-economic-social performance indicators for fishery management through membership in an ICES (International Council for the Exploration of the Sea) Working Group on the Performance of Fishery Management Systems. I submitted a research proposal to Oregon Sea Grant Program on the development of performance indicators and best management practices for exploited marine ecosystems. I participated in a fisheries ecological/economic research planning meeting sponsored by the Beijer International Institute for Ecological Economics and the Marine Policy Center, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Scientific and Policy Outreach

Outreach education on marine science and policy involved the provision of general science advice to agencies, lectures on marine protected areas (MPAs) and other fishery management issues, and assistance with collaborations between fishery agencies and the fishing industry.

General scientific advice was provided to regional and federal agencies through service on four advisory committees: the Science Advisory Board of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Executive Committee); the Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee of the National Marine Fisheries Service (Steering Committee; Chair, Capacity Subcommittee); the Scientific and Statistical Committee of the Pacific Fishery Management Council (Chair, Economics Subcommittee); the Independent Scientific Review Panel of the Northwest Power Planning Council (Vice Chair). I was appointed chair of a national panel of experts that will review the conduct of social science within the five NOAA line offices and make recommendations for its improvement.

Lectures on marine protected areas (MPAs), under consideration in many fishery management settings, focused on economic aspects of the design of these tools. I spoke about economic perspectives on MPAs to the Oregon Ocean Policy Advisory Committee (OPAC) and to a graduate class (MRM 525 / Z 565) on MPAs. I also gave general lectures on economics and fishery management to AREC 351, (Natural Resource Economics and Policy) and as part of the HMSC seminar series.

Outreach to facilitate collaboration between agencies and the fishing industry was conducted through facilitation of a COMES/NMFS Industry-Agency Collaborative Research Workshop, through a presentation on industry participation in fishery management given at the conference of the New Zealand SeaFish Industry Council, and through service on COMES steering committees for OSU/Russia Far East Joint Fisheries Research Planning and for a COMES/New Zealand workshop on training fishery managers for the next century. I also served on the advisory committees of a Packard Foundation project on the resolution of conflict in fisheries and a Pacific Fishing conference on fishing industry restructuring.

Program Administration and Support

Support for program administration was provided to Sea Grant through several activities. I prepared background materials for the site visit of the Sea Grant Program Assessment Team (PAT). I made a presentation on fishery management issues to the Oregon Sea Grant PAT. I prepared background materials for Sea Grant Coastal Issues Forums and served as a discussion leader, at the Oregon Sea Grant research planning workshop on marine and anadromous fisheries, October 20, 2000. I presented a summary of workshop results to the Sea Grant Advisory Council.

Professional Service

Professional service has been directed toward contributing to the performance of research organizations, professional associations, journals and students. Service has continued on the Board of Trustees, Fishery Management Institute, North Sea Centre in Denmark; the Executive Committee of the International Institute for Fisheries Economics and Trade (IIFET); and as President of the International Association for the Study of Common Property (IASCP). I served on the program committees for three international conferences: IIFET, IASCP, and the International Society for Ecological Economics (ISEE), and organized multiple sessions for the IIFET and IASCP conferences. Service was also provided as a member of the Editorial Boards of Ecological Economics and Ecosystems. I also served as an external PhD examiner, at Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark. Dissertation subject: Fishery Co-Management in two African Lakes: Theory and Practice.