

Coastal regions have seen major ecological changes over the last century, including shifts in the distribution of fish stocks. Such stock shifts have been well documented, but our understanding of human response, and the factors which impact that response, remains limited. In this project, we aim to synthesize ecological, economic, regulatory, and public record data to better understand these ecological changes and corresponding community responses on the northeast coast of the United States. Our approach is interdisciplinary and mixes quantitative and qualitative methods. We will characterize shifts of commercially fished marine stocks and examine whether and how fisher communities respond to such ecological changes in combination with social, economic, and regulatory forces. We will then assess how those ecological and community changes are reflected in political debate and formal policy. Our hope is that this work will elucidate loci of surprise—ecological, economic and regulatory—for fishing communities and provide a foundation for management that is scientifically informed, responsive to community priorities, and flexible enough to be adaptable in the face of unforeseen changes.
Resources:
Resource Title | Brief Summary |
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Governing fisheries in the face of change: Social responses to long-term geographic shifts in a U.S. fishery |
Nov 10, 2018 Article published in Marine Policy. |
Adaptation strategies of coastal fishing communities as species shift poleward |
Nov 22, 2018 Article published in ICES Journal of Marine Science. |
Integrating team science into interdisciplinary graduate education: an exploration of the SESYNC Graduate Pursuit |
Mar 21, 2019 Article published in Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences. |