Convening Climate Experts

In April, GMRI scientists hosted a modeling workshop for over 30 leading climate, oceanography, socio-economic, and fisheries experts. The group convened to discuss a question at the forefront of fisheries management: How do we account for climate change?

Here to recap the meeting for us is Dr. Lisa Kerr, who chaired the steering committee for the workshop:

“In the years since we first observed that the Gulf of Maine is warming faster than almost any other part of the global ocean, we’ve focused much of our research at GMRI on understanding the impacts of warming on our fisheries. Warmer water causes species shifts and productivity changes, challenging our fisheries management system to adapt to a 'new-normal.'

We also know our peers are looking at similar questions, so we called them together for a meeting to talk about our individual research and how we might combine our efforts to address the grand challenge of managing fisheries in a changing climate. Together, we discussed ways to link our otherwise-siloed models of climate impacts, regional oceanography, fish populations, and humans.

Overall, the meeting was an encouraging beginning to an exciting collaboration. Next, we’ll share our ideas with fisheries stakeholders in the region to solicit their feedback on the science they need to inform better decisions in a changing Gulf of Maine.”