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.
In June 2022, a group of about 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 scenario planning 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.
Webinar Details
Each 2-hour session will begin with an overview of the outputs and stories from the draft scenarios. Participants will then have an opportunity to add comments and suggestions to make the scenarios more plausible, challenging, relevant, memorable, and divergent. For each scenario, participants will be encouraged to imagine specific examples about impacts to particular species, regions, and communities. Participants only need to attend one of the two webinars. Please use the links below to register:
- Wednesday, August 17, 2022, 3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
- Tuesday, August 23, 2022, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
The scenario creation workshop summary, including a description of the draft scenarios, is being developed and will be posted here once available. Participants are encouraged to review this summary before the webinars and come prepared to share comments on the specific scenarios.
Once again, stakeholder involvement is key, and these webinars are open to the public. The outcome of the two webinars will be a more detailed set of scenarios that will be used as a platform for later stages of the process, looking specifically at how fishery management and governance must change to be prepared for a future of climate change.
Learn More
Additional information is available on the Climate Change Scenario Planning Web Page and in the Introductory brochure.
Contact
If you have any questions, please contact a core team member.
The Mid-Atlantic Committee on the Ocean (MACO) will convene its fifth annual Mid-Atlantic Ocean Forum on May 17 and 18 in New York City, with virtual participation options available. The Forum gathers ocean professionals and stakeholders representing federal and state agencies, Tribal entities, marine industries, nonprofit research and advocacy organizations, and the public.
The event will feature expert panel discussions on ocean planning topics including climate-ocean action, offshore wind energy in the Mid-Atlantic, conservation efforts in the region, ocean justice issues, sustainable ocean economies and much more. A poster session will also highlight the work of students and early career professionals.
CLICK HERE for further details on the event website.