{"id":5586,"date":"2014-09-29T12:03:56","date_gmt":"2014-09-29T16:03:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/edfish\/?p=5586"},"modified":"2014-10-31T11:07:44","modified_gmt":"2014-10-31T15:07:44","slug":"brookings-institution-hosts-discussion-on-future-of-u-s-fisheries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/edfish\/2014\/09\/29\/brookings-institution-hosts-discussion-on-future-of-u-s-fisheries\/","title":{"rendered":"Brookings Institution hosts discussion on future of U.S. fisheries"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo credit: Hamilton Project<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The fishing industry contributes about\u00a0$90 billion\u00a0annually to the U.S. economy, which translates to over\u00a0one and a half million jobs\u00a0for American workers. <\/em><\/p>\n

Sustainably managed fisheries have a higher economic value to fishing dependent communities, than those under unsustainable management. Understanding this fact is of paramount importance to ensuring a sustainable and thriving future for both fishermen and fish in the U.S. and globally.<\/p>\n

Our work at EDF Oceans is focused on aligning the economic and environmental incentives for fishermen to ensure a sustainable fishing future and we believe that catch shares<\/a> are an essential tool to achieving this goal.<\/p>\n

I was honored to participate in a panel<\/a> hosted by the Brookings Institute and the Hamilton Project that featured a thoughtful discussion on how to improve the economic prosperity and long-term sustainability of the U.S. fishing industry. To frame the discussion, the Hamilton Project released an\u00a0economic overview of the U.S. fishing industry<\/a>, and panelists reviewed and discussed a\u00a0new paper by economist\u00a0Christopher Costello<\/a>\u00a0of U.C. Santa Barbara which calls for a getting fishermen the socio-economic data they need before making game-changing decisions about management of their fisheries.<\/p>\n