Liu, Yajie

Yajie Liu is an Associate Professor with the Faculty of Biosciences, Fisheries, and Economics at UiT The Arctic University of Norway. She holds a Ph.D. in Resource and Environmental Economics from the University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada, and an M.Sc. in International Fisheries Management from the University of Tromsø, Norway. Dr. Liu is a resource and environmental economist with over 20 years of research experience in the economics and management of ocean resources, with extensive expertise in the contexts of Canada, Norway, and China.

Research interests

Yajie’s primary research areas are in environmental and resource economics and management, with a particular focus on ocean resources, especially marine fisheries and aquaculture. Her research interests encompass applied microeconomics, bioeconomic modeling, econometrics, environmental valuation, and ecosystem services.

Her current research includes: 1) quantitative assessment of the ecological and economic effects of climate change on fisheries; 2) development of adaptive strategies and management measures to address climate change and invasive species; 3) optimization of fishing operations using machine learning techniques; 4) evaluation of productivity and technical efficiency of fisheries and aquaculture in relation to environmental issues. Her research findings have been published in Land Economics, Ecological Economics, Journal of Environmental Economics and Policy, Environmental Science and Policy, Fish and Fisheries, Aquaculture Economics and Management, Marine Policy, Aquaculture, Frontiers in Marine Science, etc.

Mentoring

Dr. Liu has supervised and co-supervised over 10 graduate students (Ph.D. and master’s students). She has chaired the evaluation and defense of numerous Ph.D. and master’s theses and has served as a graduate student committee member for universities in Canada, Portugal, India, and Spain in addition to her work in Norway.

Grants and consultancy

• C2C (2022 – 2026, participant). From Catchment to Coast. Funded by the Environmental Directorate through the Fram Center, Norway.
• EUGLOH (2023 - ). The European University Alliance for Global Health (EUGLOH). Funded by the European Union.
• ECOGIV (NORAD II, 2022 – 2026, co-applicant). Ecosystem-based management of coastal marine resources – Ghana, Indonesia, Vietnam. Funded by the Norwegian Research Council, Norway
• FIPA Project 2025-02: Evaluation of the effects of benthic resource management measures with application in case studies administered by the Chinquihue Foundation, Chile.

Policy engagement

• Serving as the co-chair of the ICES working group on Resilience and Marine Ecosystem Services.

Publications

Stakeholders' perception and willingness-to-pay for an aquaculture-based fisheries enhancement program for coastal cod in Southern Norway

Contextualizing willingness to pay for sustainable management of agroecosystem services in a rapidly transforming landscape: Insights from the interdunal wetlands of Medinipur …

Assessing the impact of environmental variability on harvest in a heterogeneous fishery: a case study of the Canadian lobster fishery

Comparative assessment of Chinese mitten crab aquaculture in China: Spatiotemporal changes and trade-offs

The synergistic impacts of anthropogenic stressors and COVID-19 on aquaculture: a current global perspective

The aquaculture supply chain in the time of covid-19 pandemic: Vulnerability, resilience, solutions and priorities at the global scale

Comparative analysis of the social vulnerability assessment to climate change applied to fisheries from Spain and Turkey

The melting snowball effect: A heuristic for sustainable Arctic governance under climate change