SEAMaR team publishes new journal article for regulatory cost burden on Atlantic coast shellfish farms

The Seafood Economic Analysis and Marketing Research team — Jonathan van Senten, Charles Clark, and VSAREC partner Carole Engle — published an article in the North American Journal of Aquaculture earlier this month titled “The regulatory cost burden on Atlantic coast shellfish farms,” highlighting how shellfish farms are affected by regulations. 

The study has three objectives — to measure the total regulatory cost burden on Atlantic coast shellfish farms, measure the value of lost revenue resulting from regulatory action, and compare economic effects of the regulatory framework across Atlantic coast states and farm sizes.

The SEAMaR team conducted a farm-level survey of shellfish producers across the Atlantic coast over the span of three years. With 82 total respondents, researchers found combined regulatory costs on Atlantic coast shellfish farms to be $7.5 million, with total lost revenue at $9.4 million. 

Ultimately, the SEAMaR team concluded from this data that the regulatory framework for shellfish producers on the Atlantic coast has increased costs of production, restricted market access and hindered producers from increasing their production to meet market demand, with small-scale farms taking the greatest hit. 

Readers can access the full article here.