About the Award

The NAAFE 2021 Best Student Paper Award, sponsored by NOAA, recognizes the most outstanding paper by a current/recently graduated graduate student. Typically, this prize is awarded at the in-person NAAFE Forum and includes a travel stipend. In lieu of a travel stipend, this year’s winner will receive USD $750.

 

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The Review Committee has selected the following as the NAAFE 2021 Best Student Paper prize winner:

 

 

Title: Spatial-dynamic model of commercial fishing trip decision-making

Author: Xiurou Wu (University of California, Davis)

 

Comments from Review Committee: This ambitious paper used methods from operations research to develop a model to determine within-trip location choice, effort allocation, and travel path with trip length endogenously determined. The paper extends previous work using an innovative methodology to address a topic with important implications. The paper does a good job of developing the approach and methodology, and presenting the results.  

 

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The Review Committee also selected the following paper as an Honorable Mention:

 

Title: A random coefficients model of salmon demand: Implications for consumer preferences and substitution patterns

Author: Kevin Ray (University of California, San Diego – graduated 2020)

 

Comments from Review Committee: The paper demonstrates the applicability of an existing method to a new topic area, using cutting edge econometrics to provide additional insights beyond those of traditional analysis. The paper is well written, with the problem well developed and the application and implications well presented.

 

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Congratulations to the selected authors! And thank you to all authors for submitting papers on important research topics.

 

 

2021 BSP Committee

Gisele Magnusson (chair), Fernando Aranceta, Frank Asche, David Kling, and Lisa Pfeiffer