Over the past two years, marine fishery management organizations along the U.S. East Coast have
been exploring governance and management issues related to climate change and fishery stock
distributions. This effort recognizes the profound impact that climate change is having on our ocean
ecosystems and coastlines and the need to plan for how fishery management organizations and
coastal communities can best adapt to these changes in a thoughtful and deliberate way.
Throughout the multi-stage scenario planning process, hundreds of stakeholders helped generate
four distinct “scenarios,” each describing a possible future for East Coast fisheries, coastal
communities, and fisheries management. The capstone to this initiative was a Scenario Planning
Summit, held in February 2023, which brought together representatives from the three East Coast
Regional Fishery Management Councils, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, and NOAA
Fisheries. During the Summit, participants used the scenarios as a platform from which to develop a
set of potential governance and management actions that could help prepare fishery management
organizations for future challenges related to climate change.
Scenario Planning Outcomes
The main themes and potential actions that emerged during this process are summarized in two
documents: the Summit Report and a Potential Action Menu. The Summit Report summarizes the
discussions that occurred at the Summit, while the Potential Action Menu builds upon the Summit
Report by suggesting possible next steps for the management organizations to consider as they plan
for the future. The Potential Action Menu is organized around three overarching themes: (1) crossjurisdictional governance; (2) managing under increased uncertainty; and (3) data sources and
partnerships. Each theme’s potential actions are prioritized, with high priority given to those that
could be quickly or easily implemented or that the fishery management organizations viewed as
important issues to address in the near-term. The table on the following page provides a summary of
high priority potential actions under each theme.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: NOAA Fisheries
