The purpose of this project is to identify potential threats to the commercial and recreational fishing communities in the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. Researchers developed a protocol for the construction of social indicators applicable to coastal fishing communities and their evaluation through field research. Secondary data from the Census and other demographic databases were used to construct community-level indicators. These indicators were ground-truthed by a second set of researchers who conducted field work in a total of 8 communities situated on Galveston, Matagorda and San Antonio Bays. Such work is of vital importance as it will allow the communities that are dependent upon fishing to assess a variety of threats and vulnerabilities that are both social and ecological. In addition, this information system will enable fisheries managers to comply with National Standard 8 of the Magnuson Stevens Act and will mesh well with an Ecosystems Management approach. This information system will be made available to concerned parties in the public, private, and governmental sectors to be used in preparing for threats as well as assessing impacts of proposed fisheries management strategies on communities. The research team is in the process of finishing its analysis and writing the report. Watch for updates.

HARC’s Research Partners include: