Potential Short-run Welfare Losses from Essential Fish Habitat Designations for the Surfclam and Ocean Quahog Fisheries

Abstract In this paper, we present a spatial model of fishing that can be used to assess some of the economic welfare losses to producers from setting aside essential fish habitat (EFH) areas. The paper demonstrates how spatially ex-plicit behavioral models of fishing are estimated, how these models can be used to measure welfare losses to fishermen, and how these models can then, in turn, be used to simulate fishing behavior. In developing the spatial model of fishing behavior, the work incorporates ideas of congestion and information effects, and we show a modification of standard welfare measures that accounts for these spillover effects. Using this methodology, these effects are traced through to the policy simulations, where we demonstrate how these welfare and predicted shares need to be modified to account for spillover effects from fleet activity. Key words Random utility model, spatial choice, commercial fishing, conges-tion externalities. JEL Classification Codes Q22, Q28