Socioeconomic impacts of herring fisheries management in the Northeast : Looking back to move forward

A Social Impact Assessment, or SIA, is a required element of all federal fishery management plans. In this project, we seek to evaluate the accuracy of the SIA prepared for interstate management of herring in the Northeast U.S., and determine which effects of regulation were anticipated by the SIA, and what unforeseen impacts have arisen. A collaboration of five community researchers will review newspapers and trade journal articles on the results of the current herring management plan, and interview 60 permit holders, processing-plant owners and other stakeholders, along with ten scientists and managers. Anticipated social and economic impacts will be compared with actual impacts, keeping in mind cultural differences affecting perceptions. Impacts derived from an economic model will also be considered. We will then analyze the process of gathering and vetting data used for the SIA and for management decisions. We anticipate that this evaluation of past SIA work, using herring as a case study, has the potential to lead to improvements in the SIA process.