Lenfest Ocean Program: Supported Research Projects

guidelines • supported research

Supported Research

The Lenfest Ocean Program supports research to develop a better understanding of the nature of problems affecting the oceans and new solutions to protect and restore healthy marine ecosystems. The following projects have been supported by the Lenfest Ocean Program:

The Ecosystem Impacts of Fishing

Strengthening Deep Sea Fishing Protections. The World Conservation Union (IUCN), Gland, Switzerland (Kristina Gjerde). To peer review Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) guidelines for the management of deep sea fisheries in vulnerable marine ecosystems.

Examining the impacts of whales on commercial fisheries. Arizona State University, AZ (Leah Gerber). To examine the scientific evidence for the assertion that commercial fisheries are negatively impacted by food consumption by whales, focusing on the Caribbean, the tropical South Pacific and northwest Africa. For more information about this project, click here.

Lenfest Marine Extinction Project Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, Canada (Boris Worm). To document how the abundance and distribution of marine species have changed in response to fishing and habitat alteration over the past 50 to 100 years, and to predict how they are likely to change in the future, given current trends and a number of alternative policy scenarios.

Reconstructing the Historic Abundance of Ocean Life. Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, Canada (Heike Lotze). To provide portraits, through historic reconstruction, of past marine life abundance in six estuaries and coastal bays in the United States: Massachusetts Bay, Delaware Bay, Chesapeake Bay, Pamlico Sound, Galveston Bay and San Francisco Bay.

The Lenfest Trophic Cascades Project. Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, Canada (Boris Worm). To examine the global implications on marine ecosystems of the loss of top predators due to overfishing.

Evaluating the decline of sharks in the Mediterranean. Dalhousie University (Heike Lotze). To assess the magnitude of shark declines in the Mediterranean over the past two centuries, and to evaluate both the status of current populations and the ecological consequences of the loss of Mediterranean shark predators.

Marine Recreational Fishing Catch by Sector. Florida State University, FL (Felicia Coleman). To assess the relative contribution of different fishing sectors to the total saltwater recreational catch of overfished and depleted fish species in U.S. waters.

Sustainability of Deep Sea Fisheries. Marine Conservation Biology Institute, WA (Elliott Norse). To convene a group of leading scientists to analyze past, current and future deep sea fisheries to determine whether this type of fishing is ecologically sustainable.

Global Status of Open Ocean Sharks. Naturebureau, London, England (Sarah Fowler). The purpose of this project is to hold a scientific workshop to assess the global status of pelagic sharks.

The Impact of Krill Loss on Antarctic Penguins. Oceanites, DC (Wayne Trivelpiece). To evaluate the relationship over the past 30 years between krill abundance and penguin reproduction and survival on the Antarctic Peninsula.

The History of Whale Populations Before Whaling. Stanford University, CA (Steve Palumbi). To uncover the population history of whales before whaling and compare this genetic record with that derived from written historical records and demographic models in order to more firmly understand future management possibilities.

The Lenfest Ocean Futures Project. University of British Columbia, British Columbia, Canada (Daniel Pauly and Villy Christensen). To develop an interactive computer program with high quality graphics that will demonstrate the ecological and economic impacts of fisheries management decisions. For more information, click here.

The Footprint of Global Fish Trade Project. University of British Columbia, British Columbia, Canada (Daniel Pauly). To develop a global database of seafood imports by country in order to better estimate the ecosystem impacts of the increasing worldwide demand for fish products.

Reconstructing fishery catches in the Alaskan arctic. University of British Columbia, British Columbia, Canada (Dirk Zeller). To reconstruct the historic fisheries catch in arctic Alaska from 1950 to the present to determine past and present fisheries catch levels.

The Implications of Climate Change for Antarctic Krill, Whales and Penguins. University of California at Santa Cruz, CA (Marc Mangel). To evaluate the impacts on Antarctic whales and penguins of the potential reduction in krill due to climate change and the implications for krill fishery management.

Evaluating the Status of Understudied Fish Species. University of Miami, FL (Ellen Pikitch). To advance ecosystem-based fishery management by evaluating in several regions of the United States the status of understudied fish and other marine species that are impacted by the commercial fishing industry.

The Social and Economic Impacts of Fishing

Fishery Subsidies in the United States. Environmental Working Group, DC (Renee Sharp). To quantify the amount of government subsidies given to the U.S. fishing industry on a regional level, and evaluate their contribution to overfishing, habitat disruption and conservation.

Financial Analysis of the U.S. Fishing Industry. Management Information Services, VA (Roger Bezdek). To evaluate the changes since the 1976 passage of the Magnuson-Stevens Act in the fiscal health and character of the U.S. fishing industry.

Sustainable Fisheries Management

Evaluation of Alternatives to Destructive Gillnet Fishing. New England Aquarium, Boston, MA (Tim Werner). To evaluate whether new gillnet fishing gears can reduce marine mammal, sea turtle, and seabird incidental catch, while maintaining high target fish catch.

Establishing Shark Catch Limits. James Cook University, Queensland, Australia (Colin Simpendorfer). To convene a workshop of international shark experts to develop a methodology for setting sustainable management targets for shark populations when data are limited. March 2008 - September 2008.

Assessing Pacific Tuna. Imperial College, London (Tom Carruthers). To review the scientific methods for assessing the status of Pacific albacore, bigeye and yellowfin tuna populations and highlight the strengths and weaknesses in stock assessment methodology.

Protecting Nassau Grouper Spawning Sites. Reef Environmental Education Foundation, Key Largo, FL (Brice Semmens). To evaluate whether the protection of historic Nassau grouper spawning site locations from fishing pressure will help recover these endangered populations.

Evaluating Uncertainty in New England Herring Management. MRAG Americas, Boston, MA (Andrew Cooper). To develop a model of the Atlantic herring population in New England that will help determine links between uncertainties in the structure of fish populations and management options for the fishery.

Lobster Life Cycle Assessment. Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, Canada (Peter Tyedmers). To evaluate and compare the environmental impacts and management systems of American lobster fisheries in Maine and Nova Scotia, Canada, to determine the most economical and ecologically sound methods for catching lobster.

A Peer Review of Pelagic Longline Circle Hook Experiments. Duke University Marine Lab, NC (Andy Read). To conduct a peer review of pelagic longline circle hook experiments in the Northwestern Atlantic, Azores, Ecuador, and Gulf of Mexico.

Re-Inventing Reef Fisheries Management in the U.S. Caribbean. Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute, SC (Richard Appeldoorn). To convene a workshop and produce a publication exploring new approaches for stakeholder involvement and ecosystem-based management of reef fisheries in the U.S. Caribbean.

Rebuilding Plans for Overfished Species. MRAG Americas, MA (Andrew Rosenberg). To review the rebuilding efforts of U.S. federally managed fisheries and evaluate what is working, what isn’t and what needs to be changed in order to more effectively rebuild fish populations.

Implementing Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management. MRAG Americas, MA (Jason Link, Northeast Fisheries Science Center). To develop and compare a set of modeling approaches to help make ecosystem-based fisheries management practical to implement in the United States.

Implementing effective fisheries management practices in the United States MRAG Americas (Andrew Rosenberg). To convene two working groups to identify fisheries best management practices in order to inform development of regulations implementing the new Magnuson Stevens Fisheries Conservation Act.

Ocean Fisheries Rebuilding Workshop. Natural Resources Defense Council, NY (Sarah Chasis). To host a workshop examining the scientific merits of alternatives to the current fish stock rebuilding requirements in the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

Effective Shark Finning Measurement Methodologies. NatureBureau, London, England (Sarah Fowler). To convene a scientific workshop on measurement methodologies used to regulate shark finning in Europe.

Establishing the scientific basis for recovery of Western Atlantic bluefin tuna. Tag-A-Giant Foundation/The Ocean Foundation (Barbara Block). To develop information and tools needed to generate new management measures for protecting and rebuilding the western population of Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus), including a more accurate stock assessment using tagging data and an evaluation of how best to protect the tuna on their Gulf of Mexico spawning grounds.

Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management in the United States. Turnstone Consulting, WV (Amy Mathews Amos). To produce a report titled Moving Forward: A Snapshot of U.S. Activities in Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management.

Ecological management of kelp forests in Oregon and Washington. University of California, Santa Cruz (Mark Carr). To review of the ecology of the two types of kelp along the West coast of North America, address the current and future human uses and threats to the species, and to discuss approaches to managing these resources.

Review of Draft Government Guidance on Fishery Data Collection Methods. University of British Columbia, Canada (Murdoch McAllister). To conduct a peer review of draft government guidance on methods for ensuring accurate data collection on U.S. fishing vessels.

Fisheries Enforcement in the United States. University of Maryland, MD (Dennis King). To evaluate the effectiveness of fisheries enforcement and compliance in the United States and identify options for improving the system.

Quantifying the ecological effects of dedicated access fisheries programs. University of Washington, WA (Tim Essington). To synthesize data on dedicated access fisheries across the globe in order to: (1) determine whether dedicated access fisheries programs lead to improved or deteriorated ecological conditions; and (2) identify what attributes of dedicated access programs, or of a fishery system itself, are most commonly associated with positive or negative impacts.

Fisheries Management on Smaller Spatial Scales. University of Washington, WA (Robert Francis). To evaluate whether groundfish fisheries on the west coast of the United States could be managed at smaller spatial scales in order to improve fisheries management.

Sustainable Marine Aquaculture

Antibiotics in Chilean Aquaculture. New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY (Felipe Cabello). To evaluate the impact that antibiotics used in salmon aquaculture farms in Chile have on the surrounding marine environment and human health.

Competition Between Catch of Forage Fish for Fishmeal and Human Consumption. Aquatic Farms Ltd., HI (Albert Tacon). To assess the amount of competition between catch of small forage fish for direct human consumption and for reduction into fishmeal and fish oil for use as aquaculture and agriculture feed.

Life Cycle Analyses of Salmon Fishing and Aquaculture. Ecotrust, OR (Astrid Scholz). To calculate the life cycle environmental and socio-economic impacts associated with salmon fisheries and aquaculture in the Northeast Pacific Ocean. For more information, click here.

Effects of Aquaculture Pens on Coastal Water Quality. Stanford University, CA (Jeffrey Koseff). To develop a computer simulation tool that can predict where, and in what concentrations, the dissolved waste from aquaculture fish pens will move in the marine environment.

Assessing the Sustainability of Forage Fisheries. University of Miami, Pew Institute for Ocean Science, Florida (Ellen Pikitch). To develop case studies on the ecology and sustainability of commercial fisheries for several species of forage fish.