Estimating the Indirect Economic Costs to Shrimp Consumers from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Gulf Coast Oil Spill

In this paper, we estimate the indirect economic losses to U.S. shrimp consumers as a result of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Using a combination of national fisheries market data and the results of an experimental auction, we identify three sources of economic damages to shrimp consumers: (1) higher prices paid by consumers for shrimp in 2010, (2) a loss of utility in the form of substituting consumption of preferred wild-caught Gulf shrimp with less-preferred substitutes, and (3) a loss in utility in the form of stigma attached to wild-caught Gulf shrimp.