- Time:Nov 30 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm, 2022
- Event Organizer:Nicole Wright | Contact Host
- Event Category:Webinars | Show Similar
The Great Lakes Aquaculture Collaborative (GLAC) proposed to build on existing research and identify and implement new research focused on overcoming barriers to aquaculture in the Great Lakes region from its beginning in 2019. Several research projects aimed to provide economic and marketing research to increase the profitability and sustainability of aquaculture businesses.
In this webinar, Stuart Carlton of Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant and Purdue University will present results on a study on aquaculture producers’ attitudes toward business expansion (PDF download). One of the questions facing aquaculture producers in the Midwest is whether or not to expand their businesses in the face of market and regulatory conditions that are often challenging. Producers were interviewed to better understand their attitudes toward business expansion and trust in their federal and state regulators.
Trey Malone (previously with Michigan State University, now with University of Arkansas) and Max Melstrom (Loyola University Chicago) will summarize results from three studies:
- policy challenges and opportunities in aquaculture, showing regulatory restrictions at the federal level have increased for several decades, with aquaculture appearing to be the most heavily affected. There is also extreme heterogeneity in the way states regulate animal production.
- demand for farm raised fish in the Great Lakes region, showing that farmed fish pricing depends significantly on the availability of certain product characteristics, with the largest premiums for fish sold fresh with environmental certifications
- consumer willingness to pay for Great Lakes aquaculture, showing that Great Lakes consumers prefer to eat locally raised fish, but small differences in price will drive them to buy fish from other parts of the United States.
Expected audiences include fish producers and community members. Participants within the Great Lakes region are especially encouraged to attend, but all are welcome! Registration is free, but required to receive log-in information.
Dr. Stuart Carlton, Assistant Director and Research Assistant Professor
Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant and Purdue University
Dr. Stuart Carlton is the Assistant Director of the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant College Program. He manages the day-to-day operation of IISG and works with the IISG Director and staff to coordinate all aspects of the program. He is also a Research Assistant Professor and head of the Coastal and Great Lakes Social Science Lab in the Department of Forestry & Natural Resources at Purdue, where he and his students research the relationship between knowledge, values, trust, and behavior in complex or controversial environmental systems. Stuart is also the host and executive producer of Teach Me About the Great Lakes, a twice-monthly podcast in which he asks smart people to teach him and his co-hosts about the Great Lakes.
Trey Malone, Assistant Professor
University of Arkansas, formerly with Michigan State University
Trey Malone is a food and agricultural economist whose primary research interests are agribusiness entrepreneurship and public policy impacts on agri-food supply chains. Since 2016, Malone has published dozens of articles in peer-reviewed journals and has won multiple research awards, including the Emerging Scholar Award from the Southern Agricultural Economics Association. He currently serves as Co-Editor of the Agricultural & Resource Economics Review and Managing Editor of the International Food & Agribusiness Review. Before joining the University of Arkansas, he was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics at Michigan State University. He earned his master’s and doctorate degrees from the Department of Agricultural Economics at Oklahoma State University and his bachelor’s from Rockhurst University. His insights have been featured in popular press outlets, including the New York Times, CNBC, USA Today, Fast Company, and Popular Science.
Richard “Max” Melstrom, Associate Professor
Max Melstrom is an economist whose research focuses on environmental valuation, wildlife conservation, and environmental justice. He is a passionate teacher and mentor on topics related to ecological and environmental economics. He developed and manages the Environmental Economics and Sustainability Minor in the School of Environmental Sustainability. Max’s research has been published in leading peer-reviewed journals, including Ecological Economics, Land Economics, and American Journal of Agricultural Economics. Many of Max’s publications are based on external grant-funded projects and coauthored with students. He is a past managing editor of the Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association’s journal, Agricultural and Resource Economics Review.