Department of Environmental and Natural Resource Economics<\/a> working with Professor Hirotsugu Uchida, was one of five graduate students nationwide to receive a National Marine Fisheries Service\u2013Sea Grant Joint Fellowship from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The competitive program trains the next generation of fisheries scientists and economists to support sustainable marine resource management.<\/p>\n\n\n\nShe was the only awardee nationwide in the fellowship\u2019s marine resource economics category. \u201cI think my research stood out because the results are applicable to many consumers in coastal areas,\u201d said Pauls. More than 40% of the U.S. population lives in coastal areas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Selected from a highly competitive pool, Aida was able to distinguish herself with a strong application aligning with the NOAA NMFS\u2013Sea Grant mission. As a Ph.D. candidate in resource economics, she brings rigorous analytical and applied research expertise to the fellowship, and we are looking forward to seeing the impact she will make in advancing science-based management and effective stewardship of marine resources,” said Tracey Dalton, Rhode Island Sea Grant director.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the center of Pauls’ research is consumer behavior. \u201cEssentially, my research looks at consumer willingness to pay for more sustainable types of seafood\u2014whether that be sustainability for the environment or for the people who are responsible for catching the seafood,\u201d said Pauls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her work focuses on two primary projects. \u201cFirst, I investigate how much consumers are willing to pay for fish that was killed using the ikejime method,\u201d she explains. \u201cSecond, I look at how much consumers are willing to pay for fish that did not come in contact with forced labor during the supply chain process when this information is communicated through an ecolabel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Uchida, this research demonstrates how consumer purchasing behavior can be leveraged to improve labor practices within the seafood industry. \u201cTo our knowledge, this is the first study investigating whether an ecolabel-like concept can be applied\u2014and be effective\u2014in encouraging sound and legal labor practices onboard fishing vessels and aquaculture farms,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The findings have clear implications for fisheries policy, offering insight into how ethical fishing practices can be communicated to consumers and how consumer preferences shape demand for responsibly sourced seafood. The work could support Rhode Island\u2019s small-scale commercial fishing industry and inform the development of new ecolabels that raise awareness of forced labor in seafood supply chains. \u201cBeyond academia, I hope my work will be useful to the fishing communities that I have worked with in Rhode Island,\u201d Pauls said, noting that the research could also be applied across coastal New England.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A key component of the fellowship is mentorship from NOAA Fisheries scientists, which Pauls says has helped her refine her research focus. \u201cThere is a tendency in research to make projects all-encompassing,\u201d she said, \u201cand then when it comes time to analyze the results, a clear conclusion can\u2019t be drawn. Working with my advisor and mentor allows me to really focus on my research questions and how to answer them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since 1999, the NOAA Sea Grant Joint Fellowship Program has addressed the growing need for expertise in fisheries stock assessments, ecosystem modeling, and economic analysis. The program has supported more than 134 population dynamics fellows and 42 marine resource economics fellows, many of whom now hold key roles within NOAA Fisheries, academic institutions, and fishery management councils.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis award showcases all of the hard work that I have put into my research and field of study in the past few years,\u201d Pauls added. \u201cI didn’t even know this field existed until a few years ago, so to be rewarded with this recognition means more than I could ever dream of!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This story was written by Anna Gray in the College of the Environment and Life Sciences.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 Feb. 11, 2026 \u2013 Aida Pauls didn\u2019t expect a required course in socioeconomics to change her career path. While earning her master\u2019s degree in fisheries management at the University of Miami, the Maryland native enrolled in the class anticipating it might be boring. Instead, it sparked a fascination with how economics, ethics, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":106848,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1907,5,1914,1905],"class_list":["post-106847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","tag-academic-excellence","tag-college-of-the-environment-and-life-sciences","tag-graduate","tag-research"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106847"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106847\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":106854,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106847\/revisions\/106854"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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