Ussif Rashid Sumaila

Ussif Rashid Sumaila
Ussif Rashid Sumaila
Academic career
Field	Economics
Institution	UBC Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries ; Liu Institute for Global Issues ; University of British Columbia
Alma mater	University of Bergen (Ph.D.); University of Bergen (M.Sc.); Ahmadu Bello University (B.Sc.)
Contributions	Resource economics
	Information at IDEAS / RePEc

Last updated November 24, 2024

Ussif Rashid Sumaila is a professor of ocean and fisheries economics at the University of British Columbia, Canada, and the Director of the Fisheries Economics Research Unit at the UBC Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries (formerly known as the UBC Fisheries Centre). He is also appointed with the UBC School of Public Policy and Global Affairs. He specializes in bioeconomics, marine ecosystem valuation and the analysis of global issues such as fisheries subsidies, IUU (illegal, unreported and unregulated) fishing and the economics of high and deep seas fisheries. Sumaila has experience working in fisheries and natural resource projects in Norway, Canada and the North Atlantic region, Namibia and the Southern African region, Ghana and the West African region and Hong Kong and the South China Sea. He received his Bachelor of Science degree with honours from Ahmadu Bello University University in Nigeria and received his PhD from Bergen University in Norway.^[1]

Sumaila's work on international fisheries subsidies has been influential in the Doha Round of WTO negotiations concerning subsidies and countervailing measures. Expert advice from Sumaila has been sought by the White House, United Nations, Asian Development Bank, and Parliament in Canada and the United Kingdom. Sumaila has also been featured in the popular documentary End of the Line.

Current projects

Scientific Director for Ocean Canada

Lead author, Conditions Working Group of the Millennium Assessment Research Group WorldFish Centre, Penang, Malaysia.

Lead editor, Fisheries chapter of the United Nations Green Economy Report.

Journal contributions

Scholia has a profile for Ussif Rashid Sumaila (Q7902129).

He has published articles in several journals including, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Journal of Bioeconomics, Land Economics, ICES Journal of Marine Science, Environmental and Resource Economics and Ecological Economics. Sumaila's work has generated a great deal of interest, and has been cited by, among others, the Economist, the Boston Globe, the International Herald Tribune and the Vancouver Sun.

Selected Publications

Brooks, C.M., Larry B. Crowder1, Lisa M. Curran, Robert B. Dunbar, David G. Ainley, Klaus J. Dodds, Kristina M. Gjerde, U. Rashid Sumaila (2016). Science-based management in decline in the Southern Ocean. Science (2016).
Cisneros-Montemayor, A. M., W. W. L Cheung, K. Bodtker, L. S. L. Teh, N. Steiner, M. Bailey, C. Hoover, U. R. Sumaila (2016). Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences.
Teh, L.S.L., A. Witter, W.W.L. Cheung, U.R. Sumaila, X. Yin (2016). What is at stake? Status and threats to South China Sea marine fisheries Ambio doi:10.1007/s13280-016-0819-0.
Sumaila, U. R. (2016). Socio-economic benefits of Large Marine Ecosystem valuation: The case of Benguela Large Marine Ecosystem. Environmental Development, 17, 244–248.
Sumaila, U.R.', C. Bellmann, A. Tipping (2016). Fishing for the future: An overview of challenges and opportunities. Marine Policy, 69, 173–180.
Cinner, J. E., Huchery, C., MacNeil, M. A., Graham, N. A., McClanahan, T. R., Maina, J., ... Sumaila, U. R. & Allison, E. H. (2016). Bright spots among the world’s coral reefs. Nature, 535(7612), 416–419.
Sumaila, U.R., V. Lam, F. Le Manach, W. Swartz and D. Pauly (2016). Global fisheries subsidies: an updated estimate. Marine Policy, 69, 189–193.
Miller, D. D., Sumaila, U. R., Copeland, D., Zeller, D., Soyer, B., Nikaki, T., ... & Pauly, D. (2016). Cutting a lifeline to maritime crime: marine insurance and IUU fishing. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. doi:10.1002/fee.1293.
Bailey M., Favaro B., Otto S., Charles A., Devillers R., Metaxas A., Tyedmers P., Ban N., Mason T., Hoover C., Duck T.J., Fanning L., Milley C., Cisneros-Montemayor A.M., Pauly D., Cheung W.W., Cullis-Suzuki S., Teh L., and Sumaila U.R. (2016). The imperative of realigning ocean policy with ocean science. Marine Policy, 63: 53–60.
Gattuso, J.-P., Magnan, A., Billé, R., Cheung, W. W. L., Howes, E. L., Joos, F., Allemand, D.,Bopp, L., Cooley, S., Eakin, C.M., Hoegh-Guldberg, O., Kelly, R.P. Sumaila, U.R. et al. (2015). Contrasting futures for ocean and society from different CO2 emissions scenarios. Science 349 (6243).
Cheung, W.W.L. and Sumaila, U.R. (2015). Economic incentives and overfishing: a bioeconomic vulnerability index. Mar Ecol Prog Ser, 530: 223–232.
Gordon R. Munro and Sumaila, U. R. (2015). On the Contributions of Colin Clark to Fisheries Economics. Environmental and Resource Economics.
Teh, L.S.L and Sumaila, U.R. (2015). Global analysis of temporal trends in shared fisheries. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 530: 243–254.
Sumaila, U.R., Hotte, N., Galli, A., Lam, V.W.Y., Cisneros-Montemayor, A.M. and Wackernagel, M. (2015). Eco2: A simple index of economic-ecological deficits. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 530: 271–279.
Sumaila, U.R, Vicky W.Y. Lam, Dana D. Miller, Louise Teh, Reg A. Watson, Dirk Zeller, William W.L. Cheung, Isabelle M. Côté, Alex D. Rogers, Callum Roberts, Enric Sala, Daniel Pauly (2015). Winners and losers in a world where the high seas is closed to fishing. Scientific Reports.
Ekeland, I., Karp, L. and Sumaila, U.R. (2015). Equilibrium resource management with altruistic overlapping generations. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 70, 1–16.

Díaz, S., Demissew, S., Carabias, J., Joly, C., Lonsdale, M., Ash, N., Sumaila, U.R. ... & Driver, A. (2015). The IPBES Conceptual Framework—connecting nature and people. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 14, 1–16.
Tittensor, D.P., Walpole, M., Hill, S.L.L., Sumaila U.R., Teh, L.S.L et al. (2014). A mid-term analysis of progress toward international biodiversity targets. Science 346(6206), 241–244.
Sumaila, U. R., and Bawumia, M. (2014). Fisheries, ecosystem justice and piracy: A case study of Somalia. Fisheries Research, 157, 154–163.
Sumaila, U.R., Dyck, A., and Baske, A. (2014). Subsidies to tuna fisheries in the Western Pacific Ocean. Marine Policy 43: 288–294.
Teh, L.S.L., Teh, L.C.L., and Sumaila, U.R. (2014). Time preference of small-scale fishers in open access and traditionally managed reef fisheries. Marine Policy 44: 222–231.
Teh, L.S.L., Teh, L.C.L., and Sumaila, U.R. (2013). A global estimate of the number of coral reef fishers. PLOS ONE 8(6), e65397.
Sumaila, U.R. (2013). How to make progress in disciplining overfishing subsidies. ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil 70 (2), 251–258.
Teh, L.S.L., Teh, L.C.L., Sumaila, U.R., and Cheung, W.W.L. (2013). Time Discounting and the Overexploitation of Coral Reefs. Environmental and Resource Economics 1-24.
Swartz, W., Sumaila, U.R., and Watson, R. (2012). Global Ex-Vessel Fish Price Database revisited: a new approach for estimating ‘missing’ prices. Environmental and Resource Economics, DOI: 10.1007/s10640-012-9611-1.
Halpern, B.S., Longo, C., Hardy, D., McLeod, K.L., Samhouri, J.F., Katona, S.K., Kleisner, K., Lester, S.E., O’Leary, J., Ranelletti, M., Rosenberg, A.A., Scarborough, C., Selig, E.R., Best, B.D., Brumbaugh, D.R., Chapin, F.S., Crowder, L.B., Daly, K.L., Doney, S.C., Elfes, C., Fogarty, M.J., Gaines, S.D., Jacobsen, K.I., Karrer, L.B., Leslie, H.M., Neeley, E., Pauly, D., Polasky, S., Ris, B., St. Martin, K., Stone, G.S., Sumaila, U.R., and Zeller, D. (2012). An index to assess the health and benefits of the global ocean. Nature, 488: 615–620.
Sumaila, U.R., Cheung, W.W.L., Dyck, A., Gueye, K., Huang, L., Lam, V.W.Y., Pauly, D., Srinivasan, T., Swartz, W., Pauly, D., and Zeller, D. (2012). Benefits of rebuilding global marine fisheries outweigh costs. PLoS ONE 7(7), e40542, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0040542.
Sumaila, U.R. (2012). Seas, Oceans and Fisheries: A Challenge for Good Governance. The Round Table: The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs 101(2), 157–166.
Sumaila, U.R. (2012). Overfishing: Call to split fisheries at home and abroad. Nature 481, DOI:10.1038/481265c.
Sumaila, U.R. and Huang, L. (2012). Managing Bluefin Tuna in the Mediterranean Sea. Marine Policy, 36, 502–511.
Sumaila, U.R., Cisneros-Montemayor, A.M., Dyck, A., Huang, L., Cheung, W., Jacquet, J., Kleisner, K., Lam, V., McCrea-Strub, A., Swartz, W., Watson, R., Zeller, D. & Pauly, D. (2012). Impact of the Deepwater Horizon well blowout on the Economics of U.S. Gulf fisheries. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 69, 499–510, DOI: 10.1139/f2011-171.
Collette, B.B., Sumaila, U.R., and others (2011). High Value and Long Life—Double Jeopardy for Tunas and Billfishes. Science, 333, 291–292.

Books and book contributions

Edited

Sumaila, U.R. (2013). Game Theory and Fisheries: Essays on the Tragedy of Free for All Fishing. Routledge, London, UK, p. 178.
Noone, K.J., Sumaila, U.R., and Diaz, R.J. (eds.) (2013). Managing Ocean Environments in a Changing Climate: Sustainability and Economic Perspectives. Elsevier, London, UK, p. 359.

Bjørndal, T., Gordon, D.V., Arnason, R., and Sumaila, U.R. (eds.) (2006). Advances in Fisheries Economics: Papers in Honour of Professor Gordon Munro, Blackwell, Oxford, p. 308.
Sumaila, U.R., Boyer, D., Skog, M., and Steinshamm, S.I. (eds.) (2004). Namibia's fisheries: Ecological, economic and social aspects. Eburon, Netherlands, p. 363.
Kowero, G., Campbell, B.M., and Sumaila, U.R. (eds.) (2003). Policies and governance structures in woodlands of Southern Africa. CIFOR Press, Indonesia, p. 211.

Special Journal Issues

Sumaila, U. R. and K. I. Stergiou (2015). Economics of marine conservation. Mar Ecol Prog Ser Vol. 530:177-279.
Sumaila, U.R. (2015). On the Contributions of Colin Clark to Fisheries Economics Environmental and Resource Economics, May 2015, Volume 61, Issue 1. (editor of Special Issue).
Sumaila, U.R., Arnason, R., and Lange, G.-M. (eds.) (2010). Global Fisheries Economics, Journal of Bioeconomics, 12, 179–268.
Chuenpagdee, R. and Sumaila, U.R. (eds) (2010). Fisheries Governance. Fish and Fisheries, 11, 233–314.
Sumaila, U.R., Adinar, A., and Albiac, J. (eds.) (2009). Game theoretic applications to environmental and natural resource problems. Environment and Development Economics, 14, 1–137.

Sumaila, U.R., Charles, T., and Sylvia, G. (eds.) (2007). Topical Problems in Fisheries Economics: An Introduction. Marine Resource Economics.
Sumaila, U.R., Munro, G., and Sutinen, J. (eds.) (2007). Recent Developments in Fisheries Economics. Special Issue of Land Economics, 83, 1–107.
Sumaila, U.R. and Charles, A. (eds.) (2002a). Economics of protected marine areas. Special Issue of Natural Resource Modeling, 15 (3 ), 261–386.
Sumaila, U.R. and Charles, A. (eds.) (2002b). Economics of protected marine areas. Special Issue of Natural Resource Modeling, 15 (4), 387–505. Climate, oceans and the law of special and general adaptation
Alder, J. and Sumaila, U. R. (eds.) (2002). Social and economic aspects of protected marine areas implementation. Special Issue of Coastal Management, 30(2), 121–191.

Related Research Articles

FishBase is a global species database of fish species. It is the largest and most extensively accessed online database on adult finfish on the web. Over time it has "evolved into a dynamic and versatile ecological tool" that is widely cited in scholarly publications.

Bioeconomics is closely related to the early development of theories in fisheries economics, initially in the mid-1950s by Canadian economists Scott Gordon and Anthony Scott (1955). Their ideas used recent achievements in biological fisheries modelling, primarily the works by Schaefer in 1954 and 1957 on establishing a formal relationship between fishing activities and biological growth through mathematical modelling confirmed by empirical studies, and also relates itself to ecology and the environment and resource protection.

Overfishing is the removal of a species of fish from a body of water at a rate greater than that the species can replenish its population naturally, resulting in the species becoming increasingly underpopulated in that area. Overfishing can occur in water bodies of any sizes, such as ponds, wetlands, rivers, lakes or oceans, and can result in resource depletion, reduced biological growth rates and low biomass levels. Sustained overfishing can lead to critical depensation, where the fish population is no longer able to sustain itself. Some forms of overfishing, such as the overfishing of sharks, has led to the upset of entire marine ecosystems. Types of overfishing include growth overfishing, recruitment overfishing, and ecosystem overfishing.

A conventional idea of a sustainable fishery is that it is one that is harvested at a sustainable rate, where the fish population does not decline over time because of fishing practices. Sustainability in fisheries combines theoretical disciplines, such as the population dynamics of fisheries, with practical strategies, such as avoiding overfishing through techniques such as individual fishing quotas, curtailing destructive and illegal fishing practices by lobbying for appropriate law and policy, setting up protected areas, restoring collapsed fisheries, incorporating all externalities involved in harvesting marine ecosystems into fishery economics, educating stakeholders and the wider public, and developing independent certification programs.

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Daniel Pauly is a French-born marine biologist, well known for his work in studying human impacts on global fisheries and in 2020 was the most cited fisheries scientist in the world. He is a professor and the project leader of the Sea Around Us initiative at the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries at the University of British Columbia. He also served as Director of the UBC Fisheries Centre from November 2003 to October 2008.

The Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement is an annual award for environmental science, environmental health, and energy. Tyler Laureates receive a $250,000 cash prize and a medallion. The prize is administered by the University of Southern California and was established by John and Alice Tyler in 1973. It is regarded as the "Nobel for environment".

Fisheries science is the academic discipline of managing and understanding fisheries. It is a multidisciplinary science, which draws on the disciplines of limnology, oceanography, freshwater biology, marine biology, meteorology, conservation, ecology, population dynamics, economics, statistics, decision analysis, management, and many others in an attempt to provide an integrated picture of fisheries. In some cases new disciplines have emerged, as in the case of bioeconomics and fisheries law. Because fisheries science is such an all-encompassing field, fisheries scientists often use methods from a broad array of academic disciplines. Over the most recent several decades, there have been declines in fish stocks (populations) in many regions along with increasing concern about the impact of intensive fishing on marine and freshwater biodiversity.

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The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to fisheries:

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Cheung (scientist)</span> Marine biologist

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Sustainable Development Goal 14 is about "Life below water" and is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations in 2015. The official wording is to "Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development". The Goal has ten targets to be achieved by 2030. Progress towards each target is being measured with one indicator each.

References

↑ UBC Fisheries Website CV link
↑ "UBC's Daniel Pauly and Rashid Sumaila win Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement". EurekAlert!. Retrieved February 23, 2023.

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[1] UBC Fisheries Website CV link

[eurek-2] "UBC's Daniel Pauly and Rashid Sumaila win Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement". EurekAlert!. Retrieved February 23, 2023.

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