The Economic Perspective 11/7/2025

The Latest Trending Economic, Environmental and Infrastructure News Curated for You by The Balmoral Group

The Balmoral Group provides practical, professional and precise Economics, Data Analytics, and Engineering Consulting services and is part of a globally integrated team.

Happy Friday! 

Welcome back to another addition of The Economic Perspective! This week, TBG’s Laila Racevskis attended the Polk County Landowner Assistance Expo in Lake Wales, FL, where numerous exhibitors and speakers provided information to agricultural landowners on incentive programs and other resources to help landowners keep land in production, including cost-share programs, mitigation options, conservation easements, and others. Laila assisted the Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation in providing information to participants on the Florida Wildlife Corridor Pilot Payment for Ecosystem Services program that will soon be available in the region.

TBG's President Valerie Seidel, and team member Cortney Cortez were on the road this week presenting Indian River Lagoon (IRL) economic valuation results to the IRL Management Conference. Valerie Seidel also presented at the Florida Ocean Alliance Annual Leadership Luncheon and Panel.

In this edition of the Economic Perspective, our first three articles cover impacts and changes to conservation efforts on seafood sources in both the state of Washington and Apalachicola Bay in Florida. Articles also cover AI and satellite usage to track climate benefits, fertilizer price changes, and shakeups in the tech industry as a result of AI investment. 

Our data visualization covers water quality problems for mobile home communities throughout the country.

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Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!

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Baker Sockeye Return to Skagit Bay and Skagit River

In 1980, Baker Sockeye numbered fewer than 100 fish, today nearly 92,000 have returned to the waters of Skagit Bay and Skagit River. This recovery was managed by the state of Washington and several Tribal communities. This project to recover Sockeye Salmon populations began back in 2003 after Tribal communities began collaboration with Washington and Puget Sound Energy to assist Sockeye Salmon with migration through dams on the Baker River. ‘Fish Taxi’ mechanisms were built into dams to allow fish to continue up the rivers, and with the recovery of this population recreational fishing of Sockeye Salmon is possible again. Read more here.

Urban Water Chemicals Impact Chinook Salmon

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Toxic Biological Observation System unit has been monitoring toxic chemicals that have been released into Puget Sound. Currently 11 contaminants exceed safe thresholds and they include pharmaceuticals, personal care products, PFAs, and pesticides. These chemicals have an adverse effect on Chinook Salmon that migrate between freshwater and saltwater environments. During this change between environments they undergo smoltification that makes them vulnerable to chemicals in the water. It is unclear the extent of the impacts of all these chemicals but research shows many are past safe levels. Read more about this here.

Apalachicola Bay Will be Reopened for Oyster Harvesting

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has approved a plan to reopen Apalachicola Bay for oyster harvesting. The Bay has been closed to harvesting due to dwindling oyster populations, which have been attributed in part to upstream water demands in Georgia and Alabama. The Bay had been a major source of oysters for both Florida and the US prior to its closure. While some harvesting will be allowed under the new plan, only 500 acres of suitable oyster harvesting exists now compared to 10,000 acres that existed historically. Limitations on how many oysters that can be harvested and the time frame for harvesting still exist. Read more here and here.

AI and Satellite Usage in Tracking Climate Benefits

Major forests and other ecosystems often serve as large carbon sinks for the planet but understanding the numbers behind how much carbon they absorb can often be difficult. Satellites and AI offer an opportunity to get a broader picture with more data. Acquiring this data will offer a more in-depth analysis on the value that natural ecosystems provide. The system that is being developed in partnership with Stanford University, Brown University, and Planet Labs and will provide a detailed 30-meter map showing tree height, canopy cover, and aboveground carbon. Improved data can help justify future financial investments in forest protection, which can in turn help provide environmental and climate benefits that also benefit agricultural practices. Read more here.

Fertilizer Prices Could Rise with Tariff Aid Payments

With current tariffs in place, fertilizer prices have increased without change in demand. The US Department of Agriculture is exploring payments in trade aid for fertilizer, and experts report that this could result in price increases. Trade payments would not solve the issue of demand outpacing supply at times, and when these payments have been made in the past, demand spiked, outpaced supply, and prices increased. Whether or not such payments are provided again, experts agree that prices will remain high without much change in demand. Read more here.

Major Tech Companies Make Cuts

Tech companies have been making layoffs going back to 2022, but last week was a particularly shocking week as Amazon laid off 14,000 employees. The largest reason for these layoffs is a shift in investment toward AI that is taking away from human capital investments as well as disrupting jobs. Any impacts on the tech industry will have severe implications for Seattle and the state of Washington as the area has become a hub for the tech industry in the last few decades. Job losses may eventually be offset by growth, but experts fear that when growth begins again it will be much slower than what Seattle has experienced since the 70s. This ‘Great Reset’ in the Tech industry could lead to declines in students pursuing degrees in the tech industry and a tightening job market for the industry. Hirings in the industry have already fallen 6% between 2022 and 2025. Read more here.

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Data Visualization of the Week

Clean Tap Water is Not a Guarantee for Many American Mobile Home Parks

Throughout the U.S., many mobile home park water supplies are contaminated at levels beyond what is allowable under the Safe Drinking Water Act. The Associated Press has reported that nearly 70% of mobile home parks running their own water systems are beyond safe drinking water rules. In Utah, a mobile home park has been drinking water for years that is carrying arsenic that is 10 times above the federal limit. Causes include aged and poor infrastructure that city water passes through on its way to mobile homes and a lack of monitoring for many mobile home parks. The graph below shows the percentage of mobile home parks with water quality violations as compared with other water utilities. Read more here.