Project Details
Description
To advance current work on socio-economic risk and vulnerabilities in Northeast coastal
fisheries, we propose a novel tool that helps communities scope potential adaptation options and
connects stakeholders with relevant scientific information on changing ocean conditions. The
approach is centered on the 'fishing opportunity portfolio': a weighted aggregate of the fishing
opportunities utilized by individuals or communities that integrates social, management, and
biophysical factors. This index combines three factors that influence fishing opportunities: (1)
Abundance and productivity of the target species, (2) Availability of the target species within the
typical area fished, and (3) Access to the fishery - the permits and quota, spatial and temporal
restrictions, and other regulatory measures that constrain legal access to the fishery.
The fishing opportunity portfolio will be a useful new tool to highlight leverage points for
fishery management that are grounded in human behavioral responses to variability in physical, ecological, and biological processes. Using a mixed methods approach (ethnography and semi- structured questionnaires, surveys, mapping, and modelling techniques), we will generate measures of Access, Abundance, and Availability and examine changes and variability in the
fishing opportunity portfolios of fishers within five Northeast U.S. fishing communities:
Cushing, ME; Newport, RI; Point Pleasant, NJ; Cape May, NJ; and Wanchese, NC. Sites
represent a wide range of geography (Maine to North Carolina) and climate vulnerability
(Colburn et al. 2016, Jepson and Colburn 2013). In addition, we will request input from NOAA
Sea Grant and local extension programs to adjust these pilot communities if needed. To develop
and validate fishing opportunity portfolios, we will combine information on fishing practices in
these sites with measures of abundance and availability of fishing stocks. These data will allow
us to identify temporal trends in fishing opportunities historically and out to 2050. Finally, we
will assess adaptation to changes in the fishing opportunity portfolio and hold meetings to
communicate results back to fishers, community leaders, and fishery managers.
This proposal directly addresses the broader CSI goal of providing 'Support for
innovative, applicable and transferable approaches for decision making, especially for risk
characterization in the context of a variable and changing climate.' We also address two of the
specific goals of this competition. We develop a new tool to 'Assess socio-economic risks and
vulnerabilities of fishing communities to climate related variability and change in marine
ecosystems.' Our analysis of changes in abundance and productivity for community fishing
opportunity portfolios will also be used to 'Communicate risks of changing ocean conditions to
inform effective planning and management.'
Status | Finished |
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Effective start/end date | 9/1/19 → 8/31/21 |
Funding
- NOAA Research: $301,305.00