Update: Climate Planning for Fishing Communities meeting will be held August 19th from 3-5pm at the ALFA office located in Sitka at 304 Baranof St. If you plan on attending RSVP by August 14th. RSVP here.

 Climate Planning for Fishing Communities: A cross-regional Gulf of Alaska fishing community effort to understand and plan for climate change

Goal: Communities will work together to build regionally-relevant fisheries adaptation plans.

Climate change is dramatically altering the marine ecosystem of the Gulf of Alaska with downturns in several valuable fisheries, decreasing fish sizes, changes in salmon run timing and strength, and algal and jellyfish blooms. Across the many geographically isolated and fishing dependent communities within the Gulf of Alaska, such losses may be devastating for fishermen and their communities that lack economic diversity, make it difficult to maintain fishing-dependent food systems, and erase cultural fishing practices that cannot be replaced. Despite these potential implications, there is very limited climate planning for fishing economies occurring in the region. 

Over a three-year period, the Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust (ASFT), in partnership with the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association (ALFA), Alaska Marine Conservation Council, Prince William Sound Science Center, and NOAA Fisheries Alaska Fisheries Science Center are partnering together to create locally specific climate adaptation plans for Sitka, Kodiak, and Cordova. ASFT/ALFA is leading this effort for Sitka, which integrates regional concerns from communities that use Sitka as a fishing hub. Bringing in community partners and organizations can help us realize the spectrum of vulnerabilities and strategies for innovation, collaboration, and coordination to adapt and build resilience in our fisheries and communities. This work will build on existing ASFT/ALFA efforts in the region to build fishing resilience through crew training, the local fish fund, and collaborative research.

Learn more about adaptive planning at Alaska Ocean Acidification Network: Climate planning for fishing communities

If you're interested in more information or would like to participate, please contact Natalie Sattler program.director@alfa.org or Dr. Marysia Szymkowiak marysia.szymkowiak@noaa.gov