Fisheries management as a tool for climate resilience and societal stability
Seminar Announcement
Department of Fisheries Oceanography
"Fisheries management as a tool for climate resilience and societal stability"
Alison Cross
Director, World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
Wednesday, February 4, 2026
3:00 - 4:00 pm
SMAST E 101-103 and via Zoom
Abstract:
Climate change is rapidly reshaping oceanographic systems, driving shifts in the distribution, productivity, and resilience of fish stocks with cascading effects on food security, livelihoods, and geopolitical stability. This seminar examines how warming waters and changing ecosystem dynamics are altering fisheries and fishing-dependent communities, particularly in regions where seafood is central to nutrition and economic well-being, while compounding existing challenges such as overfishing, IUU fishing, and fishery-related conflict. This talk will emphasize the role of effective, science-based fisheries management in building resilience, safeguarding nutrition, and supporting societal stability, and highlight how seafood buyers and financial institutions are incentivizing improved management by aligning economic value with ocean health. The seminar concludes by exploring how integrating fisheries science, management, economic incentives, and human well-being outcomes can support more sustainable fisheries and resilient blue food systems in a rapidly changing ocean.
Join Meeting
https://umassd.zoom.us/j/93758230260
Meeting ID and passcode required. Please email contact to obtain
SMAST East 101-103
: 836 S. Rodney French Boulevard, New Bedford MA 02744
Callie Rumbut
c.rumbut@umassd.edu
https://umassd.zoom.us/j/93758230260