Webinar Recording: Managing for Adaptive Capacity in Climate-Ready Fisheries

In this webinar, researchers explored the potential of flexible fishery permits to help fisheries adapt to climate change. Recent extreme climate-driven ocean changes have posed significant challenges for marine ecosystems and fishing communities on the West Coast, with the California Dungeness crab fishery experiencing sudden delays and closures due to warming ocean temperatures, domoic acid contamination, and increased vessel interactions with whales as their migration patterns shift. In 2019, the California Ocean Science Trust convened fisheries managers and stakeholders to explore new approaches to management, and one idea that emerged was a flexible permit system allowing fishermen to adapt in real time. However, little was known about how such a system could integrate with existing policies and conservation efforts. To investigate this, Dr. James Sanchirico and Dr. Matt Reimer from the University of California, Davis, partnered with the California Ocean Science Trust to assess whether flexible fishing permits could reduce the impacts of climate change on state and federal fisheries in California. This webinar shared key findings from their research, exploring the feasibility and potential benefits of adaptive fishery permits in the face of an uncertain climate future.