NAAFE 2007

FOURTH BIENNIAL NAAFE FORUM:

MERIDA, MEXICO!

Second Call for Abstracts

The role of economics in mitigating unsustainability of fisheries: Dealing with ecosystems, environmental fluctuations, governance, and trade.

The fourth Forum of the North American Association of Fisheries Economists (NAAFE) will be held in Merida, Mexico, and organized by Juan Carlos Seijo of the Universidad Marista de Mérida. The Forum will consist of 2 1/2 days of plenary and concurrent sessions, beginning with registration and opening reception on Tuesday evening, March 27 and sessions Wednesday morning through Friday noon, March 30, 2007. An optional pre-Forum workshop is being offered, and a post-Forum tour to a nearby fishing area on the Yucatan coast is also being planned.

Proposed Forum themes include:

-Economics of ecosystem-based fisheries management
-Spatial modeling and management of metapopulations
-Bioeconomics of marine protected areas
-Decision theory and uncertain fisheries environments
-Fisheries governance: high seas, regional fisheries organizations and coastal artisanal fisheries
-Rights-based fisheries: co-management, community-based management and ITQs
-Current fishery management issues : MPAs, restructuring, and buyback controls
-Valuation of ecosystem services and biodiversity
-Valuation of recreational fisheries
-Economic effects of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing
-Aquaculture: bioeconomics of aquaculture, productivity, risk, and uncertainty
-Trade, traceability, and marketing of fisheries and aquaculture products

The final conference themes will be adapted to suit submissions received.

Keynote speakers will include Jon G. Sutinen, on "Socioeconomics and the Ecosystem Approach to Management of Marine Resources"; a Presidential Address will be given by NAAFE President Ralph E. Townsend.

A roundtable discussion or debate is also being planned. Potential topics ranging from ecosystem management to aquaculture are under discussion.