Anderson's new book debuts
this month.
The book The Economics of Fisheries Management has been the go-to reference for fisheries economists, researchers, managers, and students for decades. It was the first economics book on fisheries management when it was first published in 1977. It was revised in 1986, and that version was republished in 2004.
Sure to have the same lasting effect on readers is a forthcoming title from the author, the University of Delaware’s Maxwell P. and Mildred H. Harrington Professor of Marine Studies Lee G. Anderson. Bioeconomics of Fisheries Management, co-authored by Anderson and Juan Carlos Seijo from Universidad Marista de Merida, is due out this month from publisher Wiley-Blackwell.
The 300-page text begins with an overview of fisheries bioeconomics, “a field that integrates resource biology and ecology with the economics of fisher behavior, considering space, time, and uncertainty dimensions.” The authors state that the study of this topic can help develop ways to deal with issues such as overexploitation of marine fisheries that are affected by natural environmental change, shifting coastal ecosystem dynamics, and the idiosyncrasies of governance.
In addition to presenting information traditionally covered by other books on the topic, such as the effect of unrestricted access to fisheries, Bioeconomics of Fisheries Management quickly delves into new territory such as management considerations in space and time taking cognizance of ecological interrationships.
One of the book’s highlights is that it presents the economic aspects of fisheries management while taking more explicit consideration of theoretical and empirical issues regarding fisheries population dynamics. 
“A lot of publications give primary emphasis to the theoretical economic issues,” Anderson said. “I wanted to provide a biological emphasis because it is critical to understanding the essence of the economic and management questions.”
The publication is also one of the first fisheries economics books to use the age-class population dynamics model to analyze fisheries utilization and management.
Traditional economic analysis has typically used a surplus production model where recruitment, natural mortality, and the growth of individual fish are collapsed into a single equation. The age-class model treats each of these elements separately and as such is much more complex. However, it is capable of capturing more of the nuances of stock growth and it is the model that is most frequently used by fisheries biologists, Anderson said.
“This was also an opportunity to discuss some of the changes in philosophy of fisheries management that had occurred since the last book due in part to some of the failures of recent management,” he said. “The most significant may be the willingness to limit access to fisheries and to consider market-based regulation.”
Anderson said that he is very grateful for the support provided by the College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment, his colleagues, and his family and students as he worked on the book.
His other titles have included Economic Impacts of Extended Fisheries Jurisdiction, Economic Analysis of Fisheries Management Plans, and Fisheries Economics: Collected Essays, Volumes I and II. Anderson also is the author of many journal articles on various aspects of the economics of fisheries management.
He received the Rosentiel Award from the Rosentiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science in 1993 in recognition of his “important contributions to fisheries economics and management especially in the application of individual transferable quotas.”
As the recipient of the International Institute of Fisheries Economics and Trade's 2006 Distinguished Service Award, Anderson was cited for his contributions to the theory and practice of fisheries economics. The award recognized Anderson's efforts to promote a worldwide exchange of perspectives and information on fisheries issues, as well as his contributions as an author of textbooks used in the study of fisheries economics.
Anderson, who has worked closely with the Office of Policy of the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service and is now a member and vice-chair of the Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Management Council, received his bachelor's degree in economics in 1966 from Brigham Young University and his doctorate in economics from the University of Washington in 1970.
For more information, visit the CEOE web site at www.ceoe.udel.edu.