Fisheries Economist

ECS is seeking a Fisheries Economist to work remotely.

ECS seeks a full-time, remote Fisheries Economist to support the NOAA Fisheries Office of Science and Technology (OST) and Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC).

This position will support NOAA Fisheries' need to develop standardized bioeconomic models of fishing tradeoffs among species to analyze the implications of changing recreational fishing regulations. A bioeconomic model is currently being used by the Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Management Council, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, and NOAA's Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office. Fishery managers can access a cloud-based R shiny application from a website to run the bioeconomic model autonomously. The Southeast Fisheries Science Center and the Office of Science and Technology have been developing a similar bioeconomic model for use in the management of Southeast fisheries. The Southeast bioeconomic model is based on stock assessment data and contingent behavior surveys of recreational anglers and focused on the gag grouper fishery.

Tasks to be Performed:

• Continue and complete the development of the BLAST model for the gag grouper fishery by testing the code and presenting interim results to potential model users at the SEFSC, the Southeast Regional Office (SERO), and the Gulf Council to facilitate the use of model results for regulatory analysis.
• Develop the cloud computing infrastructure to run the model quickly and efficiently.
• Create an intuitive graphical user interface (GUI) (e.g., shiny app) to specify the model inputs and display the model results.
• Produce a clean and comprehensive dataset including all data elements collected through the EDC program.
• Expand the BLAST model to be general enough to cover other species and areas in the Southeast Region, building on the gag grouper model and other previous work done by the SEFSC, OST, and SERO.
• Obtain data from NMFS on specific fisheries to be used in running the model and integrate data into the model.
• Assist with new angler surveys and analysis of results that can be used to parameterize the BLAST model for different species and areas.

Deliverables:

• Specification of the cloud computing resources, and the GUI need to run and display the model.
• Reproducible and annotated code used to prepare data and estimate the BLAST model.
• Fully operational BLAST models to be used for simulating management policies and outcomes on recreational catch and effort.
• Complete reproducible and annotated code used to prepare data and estimate the BLAST model.
• NOAA technical memos, scholarly articles, and oral presentations that would serve to document and communicate the work to key stakeholders.

A government-furnished laptop will be provided.

Salary range: $75,000 - $90,000

General Description of Benefits

• An advanced degree (Ph.D. preferred). Eligible degrees include: 1) a Ph.D. in Agricultural economics, Natural resource economics, Environmental Economics, Marine Resource Economics, Development Economics (or combinations thereof), Economics, or other Applied Economics; or 2) a Master's degree in one of the above fields, plus relevant work experience.
• Work or research experience with fisheries or other natural resources (agriculture, wildlife, forestry, ecosystem services, etc).
• Proficiency in R and other statistical software.