Based on the experience of conducting rapid assessments of disasters such as hurricanes and oil spills impacting fisheries, NOAA Fisheries and our partners were able to mobilize economists and social scientists to provide information to policymakers responding to the COVID-19 crisis. First, using many years of data and expert knowledge, we developed a common baseline of average fishing and seafood industry revenues from 2015–2019 for use in determining impacts and for guiding distribution of government emergency appropriations to the industry. Second, via key stakeholder interviews and industry surveys we were able to capture, in near real time, impacts the industry was seeing on operations, channels of distribution, and revenues. Finally, based on the above analyses, we are in the early stages of developing scenarios of future impacts.
Bio:
Doug is the Senior Research Scientist for Economics at NOAA Fisheries and serves as Senior Economic Advisor to the NMFS Chief Scientist in the US. Lipton received his Ph.D. from the University of Maryland College Park, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics in 1989 where he was a faculty member until 2013, and still serves as Professor Emeritus. During that time he was also program leader for the Maryland Sea Grant Extension Program. Lipton’s research focuses on a wide variety of marine economic issues including, commercial and recreational fisheries economics, non-market valuation of marine resources and aquaculture.
Doug is a member of our Strategic Initiative on the Human Dimension and Working Group on Social and Economic Dimensions of Aquaculture.