Securing a sustainable future for US seafood in the wake of a global crisis

Halley E. Froehlich, Rebecca Gentry, Sarah E. Lester, Richard S. Cottrell, Gavin Fay, Trevor A. Branch, Jessica A. Gephart, Easton R White and Julia K. Baum

No vcn2d, OSF Preprints from Center for Open Science

Abstract: The United States seafood industry is undergoing rapid change, as a result of the current trade war with China, ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic, and new governance mandates. The new Executive Order (EO) on Promoting American Seafood Competitiveness and Economic Growth, signed in May 2020, proposes wild-capture fisheries deregulation and prioritization of aquaculture (i.e., aquatic farming), with an emphasis on offshore development. Recent disruption of wild-caught seafood supply and demand could create space for sustainable aquaculture growth, but expansion could also undermine wild fisheries livelihoods and economics if integrated management between industries is ignored. Here, we review the current state of US seafood and outline five guiding principles to better manage US fisheries and aquaculture: (1) make precise and strategic fisheries reforms that continue to support sustainable wild fisheries, (2) integrate aquaculture and fisheries using an ecosystem-based approach, (3) address social resistance to aquaculture, (4) improve aquaculture data collection, and (5) reconcile nationalism in a global market. Implementation of these principles is critical for balancing social-ecological trade-offs amongst wild captured and farmed seafood systems, and for ensuring a more resilient US seafood sector under an anticipated future of increased volatility.

Date: 2020-07-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-env
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:osf:osfxxx:vcn2d

DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/vcn2d

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