Policies of the International Institute of Fisheries Economics & Trade (IIFET)

 

Date of last revision: February 2023

 

IIFET Policy Governing Awards and Prizes

(As amended and approved August 24, 2011; Revised February 14, 2018)

Background

The IIFET biennial conference is typically the occasion where awards and prizes are bestowed on members, individuals, and potentially affiliated organizations for their contributions to the profession. With the proliferation of awards, or requests to establish awards, it is necessary to provide additional guidance and clarification regarding the establishment and awarding of these honors

 

IIFET Awards and Prizes

An IIFET award or prize must be established by action of the IIFET Executive Committee (ExCom); these are the only awards that may use IIFET in their titles. The ExCom has broad discretion to create and revise the criteria for the award as well as the nominating and judging processes.

The IIFET ExCom may determine the amount of the prize and period over which the award will be viable. An award may be established for an indeterminate period or a set period. ExCom may extend, suspend or terminate the prize, according to resource availability and internal policies.

Funding for prizes that accompany an award will be provided by IIFET. However, additional funding support may be sought from donors.

 

IIFET-Sanctioned Awards and Prizes

A second category of awards and prizes are those that are sanctioned by IIFET. These awards may be proposed by an outside or IIFET-affiliated organization and must be approved by the IIFET ExCom. The ExCom approval should be based on whether the award and its selection criteria and procedures are consistent with and supportive of IIFET’s mission, goals, and objectives. If the IIFET ExCom sanctions the award, the ExCom will designate one of its members to serve as liaison to the awarding organization.

The ExCom also has the discretion to request that the liaison or some other individual of the ExCom’s choosing serve on the selection committee for the award.

The ExCom may determine the length of time the award is viable – it may be indeterminate or for a specific period. The ExCom reserves the right to terminate its sanctioning of any award previously approved. 

Funding for prizes associated with IIFET-sanctioned awards is solely the responsibility of the proposing organization. The proposer may request IIFET support, and it is up to the ExCom to determine whether to provide that support. While IIFET is under no obligation to provide funding for a sanctioned award, it may provide the venue for making the award at the biennial conference or other appropriate forum. If an award is sanctioned by IIFET for presentation at the biennial conference, it will be promoted along with other awards in the conference information material.

The ExCom and individual or agency proposing a Sanctioned Award or Prize shall ensure that inasmuch as possible, the administrative aspects of all prizes (such as conference attendance and paper format requirements, submission dates, and scientific review procedures), are consistent with those of other IIFET and IIFET-Sanctioned prizes.  

 

IIFET FELLOWS AWARD POLICY

(Revised January 2023)

The Award: The Executive Committee of the International Institute of Fisheries Economics & Trade (IIFET) hereby establishes the IIFET Fellows Award. The selection of Fellows shall be in recognition of substantial, long-term, ongoing contributions to the advancement and development of economic theory and/or empirical analysis in the areas of fisheries, aquaculture and/or seafood trade.

The Criterion: The main criterion for selection of Fellows shall be substantial, long-term, ongoing contributions to the advancement and development of economic theory and/or empirical analysis in the areas of fisheries, aquaculture, and/or seafood trade. Achievements may be evidenced by research, teaching, academic service, and/or policy impact. Fellows are not required to be current or past members of IIFET.

The Selection Panel will aim to choose one Fellow every two years in conjunction with the Biennial Conference. The Fellow will deliver a Fellow’s address at the Biennial Conference immediately following selection. All Fellows will receive a lifetime membership in IIFET, and a commemorative certificate or plaque. Travel expenses of one Fellow who speaks at the conference will be covered by the Conference Organizer as an Invited Speaker. With approval by the Executive Committee, the Selection Panel may choose a second Fellow.

Constituting the Selection Panel: The Selection Panel shall be chaired by the most recent Past President of IIFET. If that person is unable to serve, other most-recent Past Presidents shall be asked. In addition to the Chair, the Selection Panel will consist of two IIFET Fellows (proposed by the Chair), two members of the current IIFET Executive Committee (proposed by the current IIFET President), and two external resource economists (proposed by the current IIFET President). The Executive Committee will approve the Selection Panel.

The Chair of the Panel may name a Deputy Chair from among the Panel members, who will assist the Chair to lead discussion, provide needed information, meet deadlines, and keep records. Once constituted, those on the Panel will serve until the end of the Biennial Conference. Those serving on the Selection Panel are not allowed to nominate a candidate or contribute to a nomination. However, if a member of the Panel is among the nominees for the Fellow Award, that individual will be recused from Panel Service in that biennium, and replaced.

When recruiting people for the Selection Panel, efforts will be made to increase diversity and inclusion.

Nominations: Ideally, the Panel Chair will convene the Panel by email and solicit nominations from the membership by 1 August prior to the biennial conference.

Nominations may be submitted by any IIFET member--individual, group, or institution. Submitted documentation may be a maximum of 8 pages single spaced text, using no smaller than 11 pt font, with all margins of 1” or 2.54 cm. Documentation may include references to publications, testimonials, a brief vitae, or other materials needed to make a convincing argument as to the merits and contributions of the individual under consideration for the award.

The deadline for submission of materials will be no late than 1 November prior to the Conference, and the Fellow Selection Panel is responsible for augmenting the pool of nominees obtained from the general membership as needed to ensure a good pool.

Selection process: A decision will be rendered by the Panel no later than 12 months prior to the Conference, so that the Fellow’s name may be included in conference announcements. The decision will be made by the Panel after an initial ranking and a thorough, robust, and transparent discussion of each candidate. The Panel will summarize its recommendation with justification in a short report to the IIFET Executive Committee. 

Roles and Duties of the Participants: The role of the Selection Panel is to take whatever initiatives are necessary to try to ensure the selection of one Fellow each biennium. The committee deliberations are strictly confidential, and only the final report is to be shared with the IIFET Executive Committee. The role of the IIFET Secretariat is to provide administrative support to assist the Selection Panel in carrying out its initiatives, including setting up electronic communications among the Panel members, soliciting nominations through the IIFET electronic list, including appropriate information on the IIFET Website, and communicating from the Panel to the public.

 

IIFET BEST STUDENT PAPER AWARD POLICY

(revised February 2023)

The IIFET Executive Committee hereby establishes the IIFET Best Student Paper Award.  The purpose of this award is to recognize the most outstanding paper presented by a graduate student at the biennial conference. The award shall be in the amount of US $500. Participant support may accompany the award.

Procedure: The IIFET Secretariat, in consultation with the IIFET President, shall determine if there are sufficient funds to support the award fifteen months before the conference. If funds are insufficient, the Executive Committee may elect not to grant the award, or to grant it with no funds attached. If the award is to be granted, the IIFET President shall form a Student Award Committee approximately one year before the biennial conference. The award committee will be made up of three members; the Chair will be a member of the IIFET Executive Committee and the other two members will be from outside the Executive Committee. Notifications of the award and the pertinent deadlines shall be included in announcements for the conference issued by the IIFET Secretariat and the Conference Organizer and shall be made independently by other available means. Students wishing to compete for the award must go through the normal conference paper submission process, but, in addition, must submit the completed paper to the Conference Organizer four months prior to the conference.

To be eligible for the award, individuals must either be currently enrolled in a graduate program or have completed a degree program no more than twelve months prior to the submission date. The paper must be accompanied by a form signed by the student's department chair or supervisor, attesting to the author’s student status, and to the fact that the student is the primary author, meaning that s/he is primarily responsible for the intellectual work in the paper, and that the paper reflects the student’s own research, analysis and writing. Submitted papers may be of full “journal length”, defined for these purposes as a maximum of 30 pages (not including references), double spaced. All evidence of the name and affiliation of the author of the paper shall be removed by the Secretariat, before papers are forwarded to the Student Award committee, so that the review shall be double blind.

The committee will select the best paper using the standard criteria for refereeing papers in academic journals. Selection of the winning paper will be based on creativity, originality and contribution to theory, methods and/or application. The committee will inform the conference organizer and the IIFET Secretariat of their selection two months prior to the conference.  If no suitable paper is submitted, the Committee may elect not to grant the award in a particular biennium. The Committee may also elect to offer one or more honorable mentions at their discretion, if additional highly meritorious submissions are received. Honorable mentions will receive a certificate, and be announced at the conference, but no cash award will be attached. The Executive Director shall assist in informing all applicants and the general public. The winning paper must be presented at the conference by its author, and included in the Conference Proceedings. Publication in the IIFET conference proceedings does not preclude publication in journals or other publications.

 

POLICY ESTABLISHING THE OFFICE OF PRESIDENT OF IIFET

(approved June 1994; revised December 15, 2016)

The members of IIFET will elect a President every two years or, in extraordinary circumstances, as deemed necessary by a majority vote of the Executive Committee.  An IIFET President may serve a maximum of two consecutive four-year terms of office.  The president will serve as President-elect for his/her first two years in office, and be installed as President by the outgoing President in a plenary meeting of the membership at the IIFET Biennial Conference, normally near the end of his/her second year as President-elect.  The President-elect will function as vice-chair, and the President as chair of IIFET's Executive Committee.  Election of the President will be held simultaneously with elections of other Executive Committee members.  Nominations will be made by the same nominating committee.  Every effort will be made to choose a nominating committee which represents the diversity of the IIFET membership.  Biographical information on the qualifications of candidates for President will be provided to the membership along with the ballot.

The nominating committee will resolve any tied results in an election of Board members by chance.

A major duty of the IIFET President will be to generate proposals from potential co-sponsors of the IIFET Biennial Conference which will be held during the last year of his/her term, and to assist in the organizing of this conference.  The Executive Committee will confer with and advise the President on potential sites and co-sponsors.  The final choice of conference site will be made by a vote of the entire Executive Committee.

The President will be responsible for setting up committees needed to ensure good governance, and for ensuring the effective and timely completion of duties of all committees.

 

IIFET DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD POLICY

(Revised January 15, 2019)

The Executive Committee hereby establishes the International Institute of Fisheries Economics and Trade Distinguished Service Award.  At the discretion of the committee, the award will be given every two years at the IIFET Biennial Meeting, to an individual who exemplifies the criteria detailed below.  The individual to receive the award will be selected by the Executive Committee in the following manner:  approximately six months prior to the Biennial Meeting, the Chair of the Executive Committee will poll all Committee members for nominees.  Committee members will forward their own nominees and those of IIFET members who have suggested candidates to them, together with any relevant materials which may help to familiarize other Committee members with the nominee. The Chair will compile a list of nominees and provide this list and background material to each Committee member, and elicit their votes on a preferential basis. The nominee with the most votes will be declared the winner by the chair, who will inform the Secretariat at least one month prior to the Biennial Meeting.  The Executive Director will then prepare a commemorative plaque to be presented at the Biennial Meeting.

A primary goal of IIFET is to improve interaction between academia, trade, and government officials in all countries about fisheries policy and factors which affect international trade in seafood. The Distinguished Service Award will thus be given to an individual who has made significant contributions and had an important effect on the ability of individuals of these different professional orientations and countries to exchange information, data, and perspectives on fisheries issues. A further consideration in choosing the recipient will be the individual's contribution to the application of economic science to international fisheries industries, trade, management, and/or policy.

 

 

POLICY ON MEMBERSHIP AND SELECTION OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

(revised December 15, 2016)

Payment of IIFET dues entitles the payer to a calendar year membership beginning January 1 of the year indicated on his/her membership application form.

Executive Committee members must be IIFET members. They are elected by the IIFET membership and serve four-year terms. To provide continuity, new Executive Committee members are elected in groups of four and five, biennially. Prior to balloting, the existing Executive Committee appoints a nominating committee containing no more than three IIFET members. The nominating committee prepares a slate of officers. Additional nominations will be accepted from IIFET members. Voting by mail ballot must take place at least three months prior to the biennial IIFET conference. Elected officers are installed at the end of that conference. The nominating committee will be directed to be sensitive to the professional composition of the IIFET membership in selecting nominees. It must also assure that, whatever the outcome, there will be at least one member from each of the following five geo-fishery regions on the Executive Committee, subject to availability: (1) Europe; (2) Africa and the Middle East; (3) Canada, the U.S., and Mexico; (4) the Western Hemisphere not included in 3; (5) Asia and Oceania.

The nominating committee will resolve any tied results in an election of Board members by chance. 

 

PUBLICATIONS POLICY

(Established before 1984)

IIFET will publish Proceedings of Institute conferences. Responsibility for this will rest jointly with the conference coordinator(s) (generally one or more individuals in the host country) and the Institute Secretariat.

IIFET will publish a series of Discussion Papers. Each paper will be reviewed by at least two respected professionals, and by a technical editor, all selected by the Secretariat, who will make final decisions on eligibility to appear in the Discussion Paper Series. Where papers are of a "technical" nature, a summary section designed to make findings accessible to a non-technical audience will be a prerequisite to appearance in the Series, reflective of the Institute’s objective to facilitate discussion among all interested parties. Only papers authored (or co-authored) by paid-up members of the Institute will be eligible for appearance in the Discussion Paper Series. Papers in the Discussion Series will be publicized via the Institute newsletter and distributed, at cost, to persons requesting them. After papers have been selected for appearance in the Discussion Paper Series, the Secretariat will send copies of the summary sections (or abstracts) to the Fisheries Economics Newsletter.

Institute members are encouraged to make available, through the Institute, copies of articles on fisheries economics they have authored and co-authored and which are to appear in academic journals, trade publications, and other respected professional outlets. This is best accomplished either by the authors ordering additional (perhaps 500) copies of their articles/papers prior to publication, or by the Secretariat arranging for reprints through the publisher. Articles selected to appear in the Reprint Series will be publicized through the Institute’s newsletter and distributed at cost to persons requesting them. Abstracts (summaries) of these papers, as prepared by the authors, will be sent by the Secretariat to the Fisheries Economics Newsletter.