A study conducted in partnership between The Nature Conservancy and the University of Washington was published today in the journal PLOS Climate. Led by Dr. Laura Nelson, the study asked fishers operating in the California Current along Washington, Oregon and California, about their perceptions of climate vulnerability, inquiring about the degree to which they felt that they are personally, and the industry is able to respond and adapt to climate change.

This article is part of an ongoing research series funded by Lenfest Ocean Programs and spearheaded by Dr. Phillip Levin at The Nature Conservancy and University of Washington, and Dr. Alison Cullen, University of Washington, which takes an interdisciplinary approach to studying the social and ecological vulnerability of fishing communities along the U.S. West Coast to changing ocean conditions.

The study provides a previously missing piece of the insight into climate communications, potential barriers to adaptation, and approaches for equitable and effective climate adaptation in the fisheries industry. Researchers surveyed 162 respondents working in fisheries across California, Oregon, and Washington and found that perceptions of climate vulnerability differed widely based on fundamental beliefs about whether or not climate change is occurring, and that people who fished on larger vessels felt they had a greater ability to adapt to climate change. In addition to climate impacts, survey respondents named operational costs, regulations, and habitat loss as key concerns; factors that if left unaddressed could present barriers to long-term adaptation.

Perceptions of climate vulnerability play an important role in behavior and will be a factor in how and to what extent individuals take action to adapt to climate change. Insight into these perceptions can be applied to climate communications within the fisheries industry as well, as policy actions that improve the ability of fishers to adapt to climate change can increase overall resilience, and the benefits outside of climate adaption need to be clearly articulated. As the industry and fisheries management work to support fishers in the future, understanding the concerns of fishers and how they perceive climate risks is valuable and essential to inform climate adaptation efforts moving forward.

This paper builds on recent research also conducted by the TNC and UW partnership and published in PLOS One, which developed a framework to assess community vulnerability by quantitively analyzing factors such as species exposure and sensitivity to changes in climate, economic reliance, and community social factors that are indicators of a communities’ ability to adapt to climate change.

Together, these studies provide a holistic understanding of climate vulnerability and adaptation potential for the fisheries industry in the California Current which fisheries managers and regional governing bodies can apply to create equitable and effective climate adaptation measures that benefit both people and marine ecosystems.