Distribution of economic impacts from proposed conservation measures in the U.S. Atlantic menhaden fishery

Impacts from proposed regulation in the U.S. Atlantic menhaden industry are examined in this paper. The regulations are proposed because of concerns that fishing pressure has been too intense on juvenile menhaden. The impacts are examined by a bio-economic model using a time-dynamic and geography-specific framework. The results indicate that a shorter fishing season would redistribute catches and income to states north of the Chesapeake Bay at a gradual rate; states to the south of Chesapeake Bay would experience relatively large losses in catch and income in the first 2 years of a shorter season, but have a small decline permanently. The whole industry would experience a net gain, but the gainers and losers are clearly delineated spatially and temporally.