Climate impacts and adaptation in the Dungeness crab fishery: a social-ecological systems perspective

Dungeness crab (Metacarcinus magister, or Cancer magister Dana) is an iconic species on the U.S. West Coast, where it supports one of the largest and most valuable commercial fisheries, as well as culturally important recreational and subsistence harvests. Yet over the past decade, Dungeness crab fisheries have faced numerous closures from the effects of long-term ocean change and associated extreme events. My research examined climate change impacts and adaptation in the Dungeness crab fishery by exploring the changing inter-relationships within and between coupled human and ecological communities. I first considered trophic-mediated climate risk to juvenile Dungeness crab, demonstrating the value of molecular diet analysis (“dDNA”) in understanding risk to, and potential adaptability of, marine species facing disrupted predator-prey relationships. I then examined Dungeness crab fishers’ adaptation to an unprecedented, coastwide harmful algal bloom in 2015, which led to the most extensive closures the California commercial fishery has ever seen. I quantified how fishers’ use of certain coping and adaptative strategies varied by vessel size class and geographic region; I then asked how these strategies may have affected the distribution of climate impacts at the time of the closures, and fishing communities’ vulnerability to secondary shocks. Finally, I collaboratively summarized Dungeness crab fishery dynamics in a social-ecological qualitative network model. I then used this model to explore how planned climate adaptation can lead to unintended consequences for fishers’ well-being, as it interacts with the effects of harmful algal blooms and fishery dynamics. I specifically considered climate adaptation strategies identified during regional, participatory scenario planning initiatives. Together, these inter- and multi-disciplinary research projects offer an integrated view of climate change in the Dungeness crab fishery, and illustrate the role of adaptation in how climate impacts manifest in marine fisheries.

Author dc:creator

• Fisher, Mary

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Levin, Phil

• climate adaptation
• DNA metabarcoding
• Dungeness crab
• fisheries
• qualitative network modeling
• social-ecological systems
• Natural resource management
• Aquatic sciences
• Ecology

Statement dc:rights

• CC BY

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1773/51182

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digital.lib.washington.edu:1773/51182