About

Frank Asche is a Professor in the field of Natural Resource Economics at the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. His research focuses on the economic aspects of natural resources, particularly within fisheries and aquatic sciences. Asche's work involves analyzing the economic drivers and impacts related to fisheries, aquaculture, and other natural resource sectors, contributing to sustainable management and policy development in these areas.

Research topics

• Economics
• Biology
• Business
• Fishery
• Computer Science
• Geography
• Environmental resource management
• Natural resource economics
• Ecology
• Political Science
• Environmental science
• Microeconomics
• Econometrics
• Statistics
• Virology
• Medicine
• Law
• Mathematics
• Environmental planning
• Art
• Finance
• Chemistry
• Agricultural economics
• Food science

Selected publications

• The Impact of Corporate Climate Change Exposure and ESG Media Coverage on Renewable Energy Consumption

  International Review of Economics & Finance · 2026-05-01

  articleOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Do ecolabel price premiums move upstream? A firm‐level analysis of the Marine Stewardship Council ecolabel

  American Journal of Agricultural Economics · 2026-01-05 · 1 citations

  article1st author

  Abstract Ecolabels aim to promote sustainable production practices, but their effectiveness in incentivizing producers remains debated, particularly in settings where there are groups of producers being certified. This reflects similar challenges as in other producer programs, such as generic marketing and quality programs. In the case of fisheries, for instance, the evidence with respect to the existence of price premiums at the producer level is mixed. This is partly due to limited access to upstream data that captures variations in market demand for ecolabeled products. This study uses firm‐level data from the Norwegian cod supply chain, encompassing purchase and sales prices over 8 years for two firms, to assess if a premium is associated with the ecolabel of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). Our data highlight that the firms handle both MSC‐certified and uncertified cod, indicating that certification is one of several product attributes. We find that there is a premium associated with the MSC label and that it is passed upstream. In addition, product form, size, and market destination significantly influence value distribution, and regional market variation shows substantial premiums in Northern and Western Europe but none in Eastern Europe.

  PublisherDOI

• The dynamics of an industry cluster: Salmon aquaculture in Rogaland, Norway

  Aquaculture · 2026-02-06 · 1 citations

  articleCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Price Premiums for the MSC-Ecolabeled Seafood in the U.S.: A Hedonic Analysis of Haddock in the U.S. Market 

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2026-01-01

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• How much oyster is there out there? Inaccurate data may be the largest economic risk facing aquaculture producers

  Aquaculture · 2026-03-17

  articleOpen access

  A challenge for anyone interested in aquaculture production in general and the U.S. oyster market in particular is the multitude of available datasets providing very different descriptions of the quantity and value of oysters produced. For instance, NOAA data indicate that U.S. oyster production has declined from almost 300,000 MT (live weight) in 2000 to 150,000 MT in 2023, whereas FAO data indicate relatively stable production around 200,000 MT over the same period. We compare publicly available oyster landings and value of landings data reported by regional agencies, NOAA, USDA Census of Aquaculture, and the FAO to shed light on differences and complementarities. FAO landings for the Atlantic Coast, which FAO classifies as all capture (wild), are consistently higher than those reported by NOAA. FAO's values of landings for the Gulf Coast were lower than those reported by NOAA until 2010, but higher thereafter, exceeding 50% since 2019. This shift coincides with a shift in FAO's classification of Gulf Coast landings from a combination of capture and aquaculture to all aquaculture. Pacific Coast values of landings are mostly consistent except in Census years, when FAO appears to follow the Census instead of NOAA. We also analyze prices and find consistency, despite the aforementioned differences. We observe some apparent landings adjustments, some suggesting discrepancies driven by weight conversion assumptions, and others suggesting efforts to adjust for production methods. These findings present a challenge for risk management and investment analysis, and are likely to be relevant far beyond the U.S. • We compare oyster landings data reported by regional agencies, NOAA, USDA, and FAO. • NOAA data indicate production has declined but FAO indicates it has been stable. • FAO landings for the Atlantic Coast are consistently higher than those of NOAA. • Recent FAO landings values for the Gulf Coast are higher than NOAA since 2010. • Prices are consistent despite differences in landings and landings values.

  PublisherDOI

• The Impact of Imports on Domestic US Shrimp Prices

  Marine Resource Economics · 2026-02-05 · 1 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  The US seafood market has fundamentally changed during the last three decades. Stable landings and increasing demand have led to a rapid increase in imports—79% of domestic seafood consumption is estimated to come from imports. Despite several policies supporting vulnerable coastal communities, little attention has been given to the impact of imports on prices obtained by domestic producers. Here we investigate the impact of imports on domestic prices for shrimp, a fishery that in the 1980s was the most valuable in the US, but that has seen real landed values decline by one-half since then. Using cointegration analysis, we show that domestic prices closely track those of “shell-on frozen” imports, indicating that import competition largely drives this trend and that domestic US prices are now set in the global market. A similar market structure is likely to be present for other species facing strong import competition.

  PublisherDOI

• How much oyster is there out there? Inaccurate data may be the largest economic risk facing aquaculture producers

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2026-01-01

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Industry Development and Diseases in the Norwegian Salmon Aquaculture Industry

  Reviews in Aquaculture · 2026-05-14

  article1st authorCorresponding

  ABSTRACT Norwegian salmon aquaculture production has grown rapidly since the 1970s. Accompanying the growing production have been a number of disease challenges of which at least two of the outbreaks threatened the industry's existence. The challenges caused by disease may appear to become more serious as the number of diseases being diagnosed and measures taken by the companies and regulators to manage disease increase. We will review the development of the industry and how diseases have impacted economic viability, the impact of the most important diseases and their control measures as well as the development of the governance and regulatory system in relation to disease. Despite the many disease challenges faced by the industry, we will argue that it has never been in a better position to address these issues and the disease cost per kilo of fish has most likely never been lower. When the industry originated in the 1970s, the knowledge with respect to disease in relation to salmon, such as how to diagnose, prevent or control them, was highly limited. The growth of the industry created a corresponding demand for veterinary knowledge and services, and these have been rapidly growing alongside the industry. This veterinary capacity facilitates the identification of new diseases and the development of novel control measures created with increasing efficiency. However, challenges with diseases will persist, as in all biological production processes, as it is normally not economically optimal to eradicate any disease if this is possible at all.

  PublisherDOI

• An economic approach to mitigating spillover bias in synthetic control methods: An application to the price effects of fishing quotas

  American Journal of Agricultural Economics · 2026-05-12

  article

  Abstract Individual Fishing Quotas (IFQs) have the potential to lead to higher ex‐vessel prices by reducing market gluts and improving product quality. While IFQs have been introduced in a number of fisheries in recent decades, few causal studies investigate their price effects. Using synthetic control methods on US reef‐fish fisheries, we show that IFQs significantly increase prices for red snapper, red grouper, gag grouper, yellowedge grouper, scamp grouper, and tilefish. We also find significant positive price spillovers to adjacent, untreated fisheries. A primary challenge to unbiased estimation using synthetic control is treatment spillover, which can contaminate both never‐treated units in the donor pool and to‐be‐treated units in a staggered implementation. When control (donor) units are subject to these spillovers, this can lead to either attenuation or divergence of the causal estimate, depending on the empirical setting. To address this estimation challenge, we propose a framework relying on economic theory (market arbitrage and product substitution) and empirical analysis (e.g., market integration or demand estimation) to inform both donor selection and the timing of the treatment start date. As a result, our proposed structure improves the accuracy of synthetic control estimates, as shown by a small Monte Carlo experiment. Furthermore, by pre‐identifying contaminated units, our framework allows for the direct measurement of the spillover effects themselves.

  PublisherDOI

• Existing seafood traceability tools are insufficient for enforcing import restrictions

  npj Ocean Sustainability · 2025-02-27 · 7 citations

  articleOpen access

  Traceability is critical for achieving seafood sustainability goals. However, trade restrictions highlight challenges for identifying basic information, including country of harvest. We use new seafood trade data to illustrate how trade can elude enforcement using the case of responses following Russian sanctions and quantify pathways through which the US imports Russian-harvested products. We then discuss the current policy landscape for enforcing trade restrictions and highlight priorities for improving seafood traceability.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Atle Øglend

  University of Stavanger

  68 shared

• Hans‐Martin Straume

  BI Norwegian Business School

  53 shared

• Taryn Garlock

  Auburn University

  51 shared

• James L. Anderson

  University of Florida

  49 shared

• Ragnar Tveterås

  University of Stavanger

  49 shared

• Kristin H. Roll

  University of South-Eastern Norway

  46 shared

• Petter Osmundsen

  45 shared

• Martin D. Smith

  Duke University

  42 shared

Education

• Dr. Oecon

  Norges Handelshoyskole

Awards & honors

• President of the International Association of Aquaculture Ec…
• Editor for Aquaculture Economics and Management
• Associate Editor for Marine Resource Economics