Fishing activity before closure, during closure, and after reopening of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument

Evaluation of the economic impacts of marine protected areas is hampered by the fact that it is impossible to observe what would have happened if the protected area had never been closed to fishing (the counterfactual). Catch reports and vessel tracks are used to perform an analysis of the potential negative economic impacts of establishing the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument (located off the east coast of the United States of America) on three commercially important fisheries that were identified as having potential to be harmed. I conclude that there was little to no negative impact on any of the fisheries. I also test for, but find no evidence of, a Blue Paradox effect. Due to political factors largely unrelated to fisheries status, the protected area was reopened to commercial fishing on June 5th, 2020. I use this event, which was reversed sixteen months later, to test whether there were any economic benefits from reopening. I do not observe an increase in catch, a reduction in distance traveled, or an increase in relative fishing effort inside the protected area (compared to historical trends), consistent with the post-closure findings.

Automated summary

The evaluation of economic impacts of marine protected areas is limited by the lack of comparison with a control group. An analysis of the potential negative economic impacts of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument on three commercially important fisheries found little to no negative impact. The reopening of the protected area did not result in any economic benefits, consistent with the findings after closure.