SNAPP: Climate Resilient Fisheries Working Group
Identifying and operationalizing resilience in fisheries
Climate change is altering fish stocks and the flows of benefits derived from fisheries. Fishery management systems need to be designed to support fisheries resilience in the context of ecosystem change and uncertainty. This working group draws together experts from around the world to identify key features of resilience and approaches to operationalize them in a diverse range of fishery management systems.
Project Goals:
- Identify key features of climate-resilient fisheries and apply them to fishery management systems.
- Develop a decision-making support tool to help managers identify resilience capacity and needs.
- Work with leaders of fishery management organizations to tailor results and products for global, national, and regional applications.
As climate change affects the productivity and distribution of fish stocks, it also alters the income, job opportunities, and nutritional benefits derived from fisheries. The nature of these impacts and how they affect the flows of benefits is mediated by the management context within which fisheries operate. Most fishery management systems rely on historical experiences to guide management, but effective fisheries management under climate change will require responsive, adaptive systems that confer resilience and buffer climate impacts.
This SNAPP working group will play a key role in developing guidance on management approaches, processes, and tools that can operationalize and implement resilience principles in fisheries around the world. We will bring fisheries experts and practitioners from nearly every continent together to address three questions:
- What key features make fisheries inherently resilient to the effects of climate change?
- What approaches and tools confer resilience for fishery systems affected by climate change?
- How can practitioners diagnose system resilience and identify ways in which resilience can be supported in order to enhance sustainability, economic benefits, and human well-being and equity?
We will develop a decision-making support tool to help managers find information, examples, and recommendations relevant to a diverse range of fishery types and management approaches.
Project Team
-
-
-
-
Kristin Kleisner, Ph.D.
Environmental Defense Fund
-
Pat Sullivan, Ph.D.
Cornell University
Project Sponsor

This project is funded by SNAPP: Science for Nature and People Partnership. SNAPP is a partnership of The Nature Conservancy, Wildlife Conservation Society and the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis at the University of California, Santa Barbara. This SNAPP team is part of a cohort funded by the generosity of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation to address the theme of Oceans, Climate and Equity.
Read Next
-
Gulf of Maine Warming Update: 2021 the Hottest Year on Record
With an annual average sea surface temperature (SST) of 54.14 °F — more than 4 °F above normal — the Gulf of Maine experienced its …
Announcements
-
Marine Resource Education Program (MREP) In-Person Workshops Resume
Across the country, fishermen eager to engage effectively in fisheries science and management processes will be returning to in-person to MREP workshops throughout the year.
Tidings
-
Climate Migration Speaker Series Launches
We're launching a new speaker series in collaboration with Gateway Community Services Maine (GCSM) to raise awareness about important topics related to climate migration.
Tidings
-
Celebrating Union Wharf
State and city leaders join the fishing community and GMRI staff to celebrate our effort to protect and preserve Union Wharf.
Tidings