| During the past 200 years the world's oceans have experienced drastic changes as a result of increasing pressure from a growing population whose appetites for seafood, recreation, energy sources and other marine resources seem to have no bounds. The oceans, once thought of as an indestructible and inexhaustible resource, are now under great pressure from overfishing, pollution, and modification of marine and coastal environments. Society is learning to cope with the resulting disruption of ecological processes while trying to maintain the flows of marine resources on which it depends.;This dissertation focuses on the role that approaches based on economic inquiry can play in the management of marine resources. We focus on two particular problems facing the earth's oceans and coastal areas. The first of these problems is water pollution and its effect on recreational use of marine resources. The second problem is the study and management of marine resources from a holistic perspective on an ecosystem-wide scale. Both of these problems have become central in today's marine resource management, as a burgeoning population increases its standards of living and demands an ever increasing amount of seafood, energy, and recreational opportunities. This dissertation is an attempt to better understand the effects of this increased demand and propose ways in which society's management of marine resources can be improved.;The first essay deals with the effects of pollution of the marine environment from the worst oil spill in U.S. history---the Deepwater Horizon ---on recreational use of marine resources, specifically recreational fishing. The main result from this essay is the estimation of monetary compensation measures which could be used in damage assessment and litigation. The second essay reviews the use of portfolio theory for natural resource management and illustrates the approach by developing portfolio selection models that could be used to set allowable catch policies in marine ecosystems. The third essay summarizes the development of a simple ecosystem model in Ecopath with Ecosim, one of the leading platforms for development of these models, and its use for conducting analyses of an economic nature. |
