Economic impact of the 2005 red tide event on commercial shellfish fisheries in New England

Abstract

Author Posting. © Elsevier B.V., 2008. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Ocean & Coastal Management 51 (2008): 420-429, doi:10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2008.01.004.Over the last several decades, harmful algal bloom (HAB) events have been observed in more locations than ever before throughout the United States. The 2005 bloom of Alexandrium fundyense was the most widespread and intense in New England waters since a similar event more than three decades ago. In this study, using historical data from the National Marine Fisheries Service, the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, and other sources, we develop estimates of the direct economic impacts of the 2005 event on commercial shellfish fisheries in Maine and Massachusetts. Results of our regression analyses suggest that the 2005 event had broad spatial and temporal effects on the shellfish market. In response to a supply shortage resulting from local closures, there was an increase in shellfish imports to New England during the red tide. Further, shellfish closures in Maine were the most likely cause of observable price changes on the Fulton Fish Market in New York.This research was supported by the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration (NOAA) through the WHOI/NOAA Cooperative Institute on Climate and Ocean Research (CICOR) under award number NA17RJ1223