The NAAFE Forum in
La Jolla, California
March 24 - 27, 2025
WELCOME
NOAA Fisheries’ Southwest Fisheries Science Center (NOAA SWFSC) and the Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation (CMBC) at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego welcome the 2025 North American Association of Fisheries Economists (NAAFE) Forum to the Pacific Coast! We invite our colleagues from North America and beyond to join us in La Jolla, a neighborhood within San Diego, California, USA.
Questions? We'd love to hear from you. Submit them to our planning team via our GoogleForm:
Registration
Registration - Deadlines Extended!
- Registration deadline for presenters, accepted abstracts - February 21, 2025
- Registration deadline for all participants - February 28, 2025
Conference Registration Fees include admission to 2025 NAAFE Forum programmed activities (Welcome Reception, plenaries, concurrent sessions, Poster Session, and Banquet), as well as lunch Tues. & Wed., coffee, and light refreshments throughout the program.
- Student Rates - To be eligible you need to be registered as a full-time student in 2025.
- Lower/Lower-Middle/Upper-Middle Income Country (L/M/U Income) Rates - To be eligible you need to be both a citizen of, and currently reside/work in a country listed as a World Bank low-income or lower-middle-income country.
NAAFE Membership
All conference attendees must have a current annual NAAFE regular ($60) or student ($30) membership. In order to register for our 2025 conference, you can either:
- purchase a non-refundable membership at the same time as your conference registration; or,
- purchase directly through the NAAFE organization website.
If you have an active membership or choose to purchase directly through the NAAFE website, please attest on our conference registration page that you already have an active NAAFE membership.
Cancellation Policy:
- NAAFE Membership purchases are final and non-refundable.
- (Deadline passed) - Conference registrations cancelled more than 60 days before the event (January 21, 11:59pm PT) are eligible for an 80% refund of the registration fees paid.
- Registrations cancelled less than 60 days, but more than 30 days (January 22 - February 21 11:59pm PT) before the event are eligible for a 50% refund of the registration fees paid.
- Registrations cancelled less than 30 days before the event (February 22 onward) are no longer eligible for a refund.
PROGRAM
SCHEDULE
Monday March 24
All Day - Optional Field Trips
Evening - Welcome Reception
Tuesday March 25
AM 1 - Welcome & Plenary
AM 2 - Concurrent Sessions
Lunch
PM 1 - Concurrent Sessions
PM 2 - Concurrent Sessions
Evening - Poster Reception
Wednesday March 26
AM 1 - Concurrent Sessions
AM 2 - Concurrent Sessions
Lunch
PM 1 - Concurrent Sessions
PM 2 - Concurrent Sessions
Evening - Banquet
Thursday March 27
AM 1 - Concurrent Sessions
AM 2 - Concurrent Sessions
Midday - Closing Plenary
PM - Optional Field Trips
See "Venue" in the Logistics section of this page to learn more about our conference locations.
Full program in development and will be finalized and advertised after presenter registration deadline has passed.
TOPICS
Deadlines have already passed and authors have been notified for all program content submissions, including Special Sessions, Abstracts (Early and Regular), as well as Best Student Paper.
MAJOR TOPICS for ABSTRACTS INCLUDE:
- Climate impacts on fisheries & aquaculture
- Seafood markets, trade, and climate considerations
- Equity & environmental justice economics
- Marine debris including the impact of microplastics
- Alternative / overlapping ocean & coastal uses: wind energy, renewable energy, aquaculture
- Marine protected areas, marine spatial planning
- Ocean observing systems & social-ecological systems
- Co-production of knowledge & research with Indigenous or local communities, including citizen science
- Economic & social analysis of fishing and coastal communities
- Integrating social science in climate and ocean system models
- Recreational fisheries
- Ecosystem Based Management
- Integrating & applying human dimensions data in spatial considerations for marine ecosystem-based management
SPECIAL SESSIONS:
- Ecosystem Service Values in Marine Resource Management and Policy
- (Organizer: Dan Lew)
- Integrating Social Science into Fisheries Management
- (Organizer: Scott Steinbeck)
- More than Four Fish: Changing the seafood consumption landscape from niche and small-scale market
- (Organizer: Hirotsugu Uchida)
- Economics of Marine Debris and Ghost Gear Management
- (Organizers: Kristy Wallmo & Jingting Chang)
Logistics
All are welcome to register for NAAFE 2025, regardless of nationality, citizenship, or country of residence. We understand that there may be confusions for our international participants traveling in the the U.S. for our conference. Here are some resources to help you prepare to attend:
- Visa Requirements - Check the U.S. Department of State website for the latest information about visa requirements and documentation needed to enter the U.S.: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas.html
- Letter of Invitation - Upon request, NAAFE 2025 organizers can provide a Letter of Invitation (also known as an "Affidavit of Support") for our presenters. Please use our "Contact" GoogleForm to reach out to our Organizing Committee and allow 5-10 business days for us to process your request.
Venue
NAAFE 2025 will be held at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego in La Jolla, CA.
Daytime programming - including registration, plenary, and concurrent sessions - will take place in the Robert Paine Scripps Seaside Forum auditorium and conference rooms, as well as nearby classroom Vaughan Hall 100. A welcome reception and the poster session will also be hosted on Scripps Oceanography campus.
A walking map of our corner of campus is available here.
We are planning for a beautiful off-campus banquet nearby on Wednesday night.
LODGING
We have secured a special NAAFE room rate of $189/night at Inn by the Sea in downtown La Jolla, located at 7830 Fay Ave, La Jolla, CA 92037. Rooms and rate are available for any length of stay even a week before or after the above date.
More details and a phone number to call and inquire about reserving a room are on this flyer.
Here are a few other hotels in the area we recommend reaching out to:
< 1 mile (~15 minutes walking)
Hotel La Jolla, Curio Collection by Hilton
7955 La Jolla Shores Drive
La Jolla, CA 92037
(858) 459-0261
La Jolla Shores Hotel
8110 Camino Del Oro
La Jolla, CA 92037
(855) 923-8058
< 5 mile (~30-40 minutes via Public Transit)
Marriott Residence Inn La Jolla
8901 Gilman Drive
La Jolla, CA 92037
(858) 204-4637
Sheraton La Jolla Hotel
3299 Holiday Court
La Jolla, CA 92008
(858) 453-5500
< 10 mile (~1-1.5 Hours via Public Transit)
La Quinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham San Diego Mission Bay
4610 De Soto Street
San Diego, CA 92109
(858) 483-9800
Holiday Inn Express San Diego Seaworld-Beach Area, an IHG Hotel
4540 Mission Bay Drive
San Diego, CA 92109
(888) 465-4329
Best Western Seven Seas
411 Hotel Circle South
San Diego, CA 92108
(800) 780-7234
Hotel Zindel
505 W Grape Street
San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 658 0104
If you are unable to locate lodging that works for your budget, you may be able to arrange local house-sitting or house-share situation during our campus' coinciding "Spring Break." Inquire for availability via the SIO-Housing mailing list: SIO-Housing@sio.ucsd.edu; https://siomail.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/sio-housing.
Air TRAVEL
The nearest airport is the San Diego International Airport (SAN), located approximately 12 miles (19.3 km) south of La Jolla.
GROUND Transportation
It’s highly recommended that you plan to stay in La Jolla and walk, take public transportation, or take taxi/rideshare to and from your lodging.
Taxi. The most efficient way to get to La Jolla from the airport is via taxi. Simply follow the signs leading to the Transportation Plazas on the baggage claim level. A Customer Service Representative will place you with the first available taxi, unless you specify a particular taxicab company. Many companies provide taxicab service at San Diego International Airport and in the greater San Diego and La Jolla areas if you prefer to arrange one ahead of time.
Public Transit. The San Diego Region's MTS bus and light rail system extends to La Jolla and UC San Diego campus, and the MTS 30 bus drops off near Scripps Oceanography campus frequently. Look up schedules, maps, and rates here: https://www.sdmts.com/
Rideshare. App-based services, including Lyft and Uber also operate in San Diego and La Jolla.
Parking and Car Rentals. Parking is very limited at Scripps Oceanography at UC San Diego and is tightly regulated. We are unfortunately unable to arrange on-campus parking for NAAFE guests.
If you decide you need to rent a car for any reason, the airport has many rental car services at their Consolidated Rental Car Center. A list of Rental Car agencies and links to their websites is available here.
ORGANIZING COMMITTEES
FORUM HOSTS
Allison Kellum, CMBC Operations Coordinator
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego
Rosemary Kosaka, Economist
NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center, Santa Cruz, California
Stuart Sandin, Professor, CMBC Director
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego
Stephen (Steve) Stohs, Economist
NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center, La Jolla, California
NAAFE REPRESENTATIVES
Frank Asche, NAAFE President
Professor, University of Florida
Kathryn (Kat) Goetting, NAAFE & IIFET Executive Director
Oregon State University
SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE
Aaron Mamula, Chair, Scientific Committee
Economist, NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center
Catherine Courtier, Co-Chair, Early Career Subcommittee
PhD Candidate, University of California Davis; NOAA Fisheries Affiliate
Phoebe Vavoulis, Co-Chair, Early Career Subcommittee
NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center
- Juan Agar, NOAA Southeast Fisheries Science Center
- Mona Ahmadiani, Texas A&M University
- Anna Birkenbach, University of Delaware
- Hing Ling Chan, NOAA Pacific Island Fisheries Science Center
- Jingting Chang, Fisheries & Oceans Canada
- Allen Chen, NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center
- Andrés Cisneros-Montemayor, Simon Fraser University
- Scott Crosson, NOAA Southeast Fisheries Science Center
- Geret Depiper, NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center
- Robby Fonner, NOAA Northwest Fisheries Science Center
- James Hilger, NOAA National Ocean Service
- Brenna Jungers, Mississippi State University
- Stephen Kasperski, NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center
- Rosemary Kosaka, NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center
- Dan Lew, NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center
- Christopher Liese, NOAA Southeast Fisheries Science Center
- Sabrina Lovell, NOAA, ST
- Gisele Magnusson, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO)
- Kimberly Oremus, University of Delaware
- Minling Pan, NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center
- Lisa Pfieffer, NOAA Northwest Fisheries Science Center
- Matt Reimer, University of California Davis
- Erin Steiner, NOAA Northwest Fisheries Science Center
- Stephen Stohs, NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center
- Phoebe Vavoulis, NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center
- Kristy Wallmo, NOAA, ST
The North American Association of Fisheries Economists (NAAFE) is an international group of industry, government, and academic practitioners of fisheries economics. The purposes of NAAFE are to facilitate communication among North American fisheries and aquaculture economists in industry, academia, government, and other areas, to promote dialogue between economists and stakeholders interested in fisheries and aquaculture, and to advance fisheries and aquaculture economics and its useful applications.
The NOAA Fisheries, Southwest Fisheries Science Center conducts scientific research to ensure that the region's marine and anadromous fish, marine mammal, marine turtle and invertebrate populations remain at healthy and sustainable levels, as functioning parts of their ecosystems and continue to enhance the quality of life for the public.
Established in 1964 to study the sardine and tuna fisheries of the U.S. West Coast, NOAA SWFSC provides scientific information to support fisheries management and conserve protected species in the California Current, throughout the Pacific Ocean, and in the Southern Ocean off Antarctica.
Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego is one of the most important centers for global earth science research and education in the world. Scripps scientists work to understand and protect the planet by investigating our oceans, Earth, and atmosphere to find solutions to our greatest environmental challenges. Scripps leads research in climate change impacts and adaptation, resilience to hazards, conservation and biodiversity, oceans and human health, national security, and innovative technology to observe the planet.
The Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation (CMBC) at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego integrates biological, physical, and social science with educational approaches to maintain the integrity of ocean ecosystems and manage their use in the face of rapid and inevitable global change.