Oregon Sea Grant

Sea Grant brings fishermen, scientists together to benefit each other and the sea

Fishermen and other ocean stakeholders are often suspicious of marine research, especially when the research results in fishing restrictions. But they also benefit from research addressing critical marine issues. For more than a decade, Oregon Sea Grant has worked to bridge the gaps between science and coastal stakeholders by building trust and communication, and getting them involved in each other's work.

Building trust and working together

Contacts: Jeff Feldner, Kaety Hildenbrand, Flaxen Conway

In 2002 Oregon Sea Grant (OSG) created the Scientist and Fisherman Exchange (SAFE). The purpose was to provide a forum where fishers and scientists could exchange information, build communication and foster relationships based on trust and mutual respect. The long effort is paying off. SAFE-mediated discussions about hypoxia in Oregon's offshore waters revealed that oceanographers needed better information about temperatures on the seafloor, but standard measuring platforms were prohibitively expensive. Fishermen responded by allowing their commercial crab pots to be fitted with monitoring devices to collect the data. By 2010, 15 vessels were participating, and the collaboration had garnered $180,000 in outside grants. The success of this project prompted a similar effort on the East Coast using commercial lobster pots. Another SAFE project helped to avoid costly and dangerous collisions between crabbing gear and research equipment on the ocean floor.

Fishermen earn while scientists, managers learn

Contact: Jeff Feldner

The West Coast salmon industry had its third-lowest income season on record in 2010. Large closures of commercial salmon fisheries jeopardized the livelihoods of more than  640 vessels, their crews and the communities where they live. Scientists, meanwhile, believed that better, more timely data could help fisheries managers determine with greater specificity which stocks, in which locations, were weak or healthy, thus letting them target their closures more carefully.  Oregon Sea Grant's Project CROOS (Collaborative Research on Oregon Ocean Salmon), trained fishing crews in Oregon and California in new data-collection methods, equipment, and protocols. Vessels were equipped with new onboard data-collection equipment. During the 2011 season, more than 400 commercial fishermen recorded the exact time, location and conditions of salmon as they caught them. Participating vessels shared more than $1 million in compensation for their work.  Preliminary analysis suggests that such real-time data could be help managers decide when and where to open fishing seasons, and fishermen hope it will help them focus their efforts more efficiently. efficiently.

Learn more ...

• Sharing Knowledge, Power, and Respect: Keys in Bringing Communities Together to Improve Science, Practice, and  Relationships. Flaxen D. L. Conway, Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, Vol. 11, No. 1 (2007) - Downloadable .pdf
• Scientists and Fishermen Exchange (from NOAA Fisheries)
• Project CROOS Website
• Publications:
  • Commercial Fishing