QUANTIFYING THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE US AQUACULTURE INDUSTRY:CHALLENGES OF A PILOT STUDY

Each year, NOAA Fisheries estimates the economic impact of the fishing and seafood industry in Fisheries Economics of the US. Those figures, however, do not explicitly include aquaculture, although some aquaculture production may be captured in the estimates if some states blend aquaculture with wild harvest production estimates. This study, a cooperative project that includes the NOAA Office of Aquaculture, USDA NIFA, and University of Maryland Extension, will produce national economic impact estimates for major aquaculture species including: catfish, hybrid striped bass, baitfish, salmon, oysters, clams, mussels, crawfish, shrimp, tilapia, and trout. Representative enterprise budgets for each species were developed based on a literature review and were combined with estimates of annual production for input into a version of the IMPLAN model that has been specifically developed for the Fisheries Economics of the US estimates.