Saving Seafood

East Coast fisheries ‘climate scenario’ workshop planned

April 5, 2022 — East Coast fisheries managers will host a June 21-23 workshop with fishermen and other stakeholders to develop possible scenarios for how management could adapt to shifting fishing stocks and biological and economic changes coming with climate change.

Since late 2020 the East Coast Climate Change Scenario Planning Initiative, fishery scientists and managers have been “working collaboratively and engaging diverse fishery stakeholders to explore jurisdictional and governance issues related to climate change and shifting fishery stocks,” according to the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council.

The initiative is a joint project of the Mid-Atlantic, New England and South Atlantic fishery management councils, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and NMFS.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Climate Change Scenario Planning: Scenario Creation Phase; Apply by April 18 to Participate in Two-and-a-Half-Day Workshop

April 4, 2022 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

East Coast fishery management bodies are currently engaging in a Climate Change Scenario Planning initiative to explore governance and management issues related to climate change and fishery stock distributions.

The next phase of this work centers around a two-and-a-half-day Scenario Creation workshop to be held June 21-23, 2022 in the Washington D.C. metro area. Anyone interested in participating should fill out the application form by April 18, 2022. Here are the workshop details.

Workshop Overview

Through a series of conversations and exercises, participants will create a set of scenarios that describe how climate change might affect East Coast fisheries in the next 20 years. Each scenario will describe a different way in which changing oceanographic, biological, and social/economic conditions could combine to create future challenges and opportunities for East Coast fisheries.

Read the full release from the New England Fishery Management Council

Climate Change Scenario Planning: Upcoming Webinars to Focus on Oceanographic, Biological, Social/Economic Drivers

January 25, 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 to identify the implications for fishery management and governance.

Last summer and fall, many stakeholders participated in the Scoping phase of the project by attending introductory scoping webinars and providing input through an online questionnaire. A summary of the scoping process and input received is available here.

The next step in the scenario planning process is the Exploration phase. Building on the input gathered during scoping, this phase will include a series of three webinars that will focus on identifying and analyzing the major drivers of change in greater depth. Once again, stakeholder involvement is key, and the webinars are open to the public. The outcomes of these webinars will form the “building blocks” for a future scenario creation workshop to be held in Spring 2022.

Webinar Details: The webinars will contain a keynote address, a panel discussion, and a limited opportunity for comments, questions, and discussion. Three background documents are being developed with specific information to support each webinar. Once completed, these documents will be posted here. Participants are encouraged to review these backgrounders before the webinars begin and come prepared to share comments on the primary drivers of change for East Coast fisheries based on personal experiences.

Read the full release here

East Coast Fishery Management Organizations Invite Stakeholder Input on Climate Change Scenario Planning

September 14, 2021 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

To help prepare fisheries for an era of climate change, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council is collaborating with other East Coast fishery management organizations on a climate change scenario planning initiative. Scenario planning is a way of exploring how fishery management may need to evolve over the next few decades in response to climate change. Additional details are available in the introductory brochure.

We are currently in the scoping phase of the initiative. During this phase we are gathering stakeholder input on forces of change that could affect East Coast fisheries in the future. We are inviting all interested stakeholders to complete a questionnaire about the ways you think climate change and other factors will affect fisheries and management in the future. The questionnaire, available at the link below, contains 12 questions and should take 10-30 minutes to complete. This is a great and easy opportunity to become involved and offer your ideas to help guide the issues that we will explore throughout this initiative.

Scenario Planning Scoping Questionnaire

The link will remain open until September 30, 2021, but we encourage you to submit responses as soon as possible. Additional Information about scenario planning can be found at the links below.

Introductory Videos:

Fishery regulators ponder how climate change will affect ocean management 

September 7, 2021 — Fishery regulators up and down the east coast met in a series of remote meetings last week to help them address how fishery management needs to evolve to handle an era of climate change in the coming decades.  

“We’re likely going to have to approach things differently in order to cope with these new and very uncertain conditions ahead,” said Deirdre  Boelke, a fishery analyst with the New England Marine Fisheries Council, at the first meeting, which included participants from several organizations and other members of the fisheries community.  

The “East Coast Climate Change Scenario Planning” series was done to rethink how the fisheries are governed, the different structures of management and how the different regulating bodies on the Atlantic coast would collaborate going forward at a time where species may be moving outside of their traditional range.   

Read the full story at the Mount Desert Islander

 

Fishery agencies seeking stakeholder input on climate change impacts and concerns

August 26, 2021 — In 2020, a Cape Cod Canal fisherman wrote a letter about the need for federal laws to address shifting fish stocks and maintain sustainable levels amid climate change.

In 2019, a researcher concluded that climate variation and warming waters in the Gulf of Maine contributed to a decline in New England fishing jobs from 1996 to 2017.

In 2021, a Massachusetts fisheries analyst and consultant said researchers are seeing changes they haven’t seen before and are trying to determine the exact causation as it relates to climate change. Over the years, the analyst said they have seen a change in the distribution, productivity, spawning and mortality of fish species.

Such concerns are about to be closely considered under a new federal initiative that will draw representatives of every coastal state from Maine to Florida to strategically plan for future fisheries management amid climate change. The East Coast Climate Change Scenario Planning Initiative is a multiyear effort that will culminate in the creation of a few likely scenarios that will inform future decision-making by regional fishery councils.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times