Addressing Contemporary Fisheries Issues Through Effective Scientist-Stakeholder Collaborations

Fisheries around the world, including in marine and freshwater ecosystems, face a myriad of issues that challenge the long-term sustainability of fisheries resources, fishing industries, and the associated communities. Efforts to address contemporary challenges related to sustainable fishing practices, climate change, and stock assessment and fisheries management can be more successful through effective collaborations among members of the scientific community and stakeholders from the commercial, recreational, and subsistence fisheries communities around the world. This session will feature examples of effective scientist-stakeholder collaborations that have successfully provided the required data for addressing contemporary issues impacting fisheries sustainability. Presentations will highlight examples of successful collaborations with emphasis on how they meaningfully incorporated stakeholder input and collaboration during multiple phases of the project and how results were considered by data end-users. Lessons learned from other projects will be emphasized to aid in overcoming challenges and developing best practices for future scientist-stakeholder collaborations.

Organizers:

Douglas Zemeckis, Rutgers University, [email protected]
Lee Benaka, NOAA Fisheries Service
Mark Chandler, NOAA Fisheries
Sean Simmons, Angler’s Atlas