International Crustacean Fisheries Task Force

Coastal communities, particularly in China and Southeast Asia, are growing increasingly dependent on crustacean fisheries – such as shrimp, prawns, and crabs – for seafood provisioning, jobs, and income. Despite their growing economic and ecological importance, relatively few crustacean fisheries are monitored or assessed, and the assessments that are conducted differ greatly in terms of their soundness and utility for management. This stems from a lack of technical, resource, and/or governance capacity that varies by region and by fishery.

The Lenfest Ocean Program is supporting Dr. Kristin Kleisner, Environmental Defense Fund, and Dr. Yong Chen, University of Maine, to convene an expert task force with both global expertise and in-depth knowledge about crustacean fisheries in four case study countries – China, Indonesia, the Philippines, and the United States. Through cross-cultural and interdisciplinary collaboration, the team will develop guidance on scientific and management approaches for these fisheries that considers the unique life histories of crustacean species, spans a spectrum of research needs, data availability, and resource capacity settings.