Scientist Helps Fish Harvesters Implement Adaptive Strategies to Climate Change

In New Jersey, the commercial fishing industry is facing numerous challenges due to climate change. Coastal fishing communities are experiencing increased flooding, coastal storms, sea level rise, and shifts in fish populations. These impacts have resulted in damage to infrastructure and disruptions to the transportation of catch. Additionally, warming ocean waters have caused the range of many marine species to shift, requiring commercial fishers to adapt their fishing practices.

The commercial fishing industry in New Jersey is a significant contributor to the state’s economy, bringing in an estimated $4.5 billion annually. It is crucial to find ways to help fish harvesters and businesses in this industry weather the effects of climate change. To address this, researchers at Rutgers University have developed a Resilience Checklist for the commercial fishing industry in New Jersey.

The checklist, created in collaboration with fisheries resource managers and industry stakeholders, helps commercial fishers and businesses identify opportunities to improve resilience to storms, coastal hazards, and changes in fish populations. It includes online resources for learning more and developing solutions to enhance resilience. While it can be used individually, the checklist is most effective when completed collaboratively by multiple fishing businesses or fishers from a specific port or dock. This collaborative approach fosters conversation, coordination, and planning among different stakeholders in the industry to address vulnerabilities and improve overall resilience.

Planning and preparation, as advised in the checklist, are essential to improve resilience for commercial fishing communities. They help businesses respond to coastal hazards, quickly resume operations after an event, and bounce forward by rebuilding in stronger and more resilient ways. By proactively planning for recovery, commercial fishing businesses can implement actions that enable them to adapt to the challenges presented by climate change.

The Resilience Checklist has been distributed to commercial fisheries, ports, docks, and fisheries scientists and managers. To further assist with assessing coastal flooding threats, an interactive story map has been developed using Rutgers’ NJFloodMapper tool. This tool guides checklist users in evaluating their vulnerability to coastal flooding and helps them identify steps to enhance their resilience. With the checklist and the story map, owners of commercial fishing businesses in New Jersey can reflect on the steps they have already taken and identify additional opportunities to prepare for the risks posed by climate change.

The fishing industry in New Jersey has a long history of adapting to change, and resilience is key to its survival. Through the Resilience Checklist and the story map, researchers are helping fish harvesters implement adaptive strategies to navigate the challenges of climate change and ensure the industry’s long-term sustainability.

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Q&A: Scientist helps fish harvesters implement adaptive strategies to climate change (2023, October 19)
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