August 1, 2022 — The following was released by The New England Fishery Management Council
Over the past year, East Coast fishery management bodies have been collaborating on a climate change scenario planning initiative designed to prepare fishing communities and fishery managers for an era of climate change. The goals of this project are to:
• Assess how climate change might affect stock distribution and availability of East Coast marine fisheries over the next 20 years; and
• Identify the implications for fishery management and governance.
In June 2022, roughly 70 stakeholders attended a workshop to develop an initial set of scenarios describing several different possible futures facing East Coast fisheries out to 2042. As the next step in the process, two Scenario Deepening webinars will be held in August 2022. These webinars will offer all interested stakeholders an opportunity to review, validate, and add details to the draft scenarios.