Vishwanie Maharaj is an economist with the Environmental Defense Fund in their Austin, Texas office, where she works to advance economic and business strategies to restore the Gulf of Mexico’s fishery and coastal resources. Projects include development of new market-based tools for fishery management and supervision of research projects to depict the economic and conservation benefits of IFQ programs. Prior to joining the Environmental Defense Fund, Dr. Maharaj served as the director of economics for the American Sportfishing Association and economist with the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council. Past research projects include studies to value recreational fisheries and studies to measure the economic impact of recreational fishing. Dr. Maharaj has also served as a member of the federal Ecosystems Approach and Federal Investment task forces to study a broader ecosystem context for fisheries management and the federal government’s role in subsidizing capitalization in U.S. fisheries.
Traditional regulations—such as daily bag limits and seasonal closures—are often not enough to control fishing impacts and they tend to generate greater discontent and lower economic benefits in the angling community as they become more restrictive.
Rights-based management programs work for commercial fishing, but do they have the same result with recreational fishing? Leal and Majaraj explain how rights-based management can work for recreational fishermen as well.