Presentation Abstract
Starting in May 2015 a massive harmful algal bloom (HAB) of the toxigenic diatom Pseudo-nitzschia occurred along the North American west coast resulting in unsafe levels of domoic acid in seafood. Subsequent fisheries harvest closures were both the longest and the most geographically widespread on record. Fishery-dependent coastal communities were severely impacted, with a fisheries resource disaster declaration occurring for the 2015-16 season of the California Dungeness crab fishery. This research aims to assess the social, cultural and economic impacts of the 2015 HAB event across 17 fishing communities on the US west coast using primary survey data. The survey instrument collected sociodemographic and economic factors hypothesized to confer resilience to HAB events as well as data that quantifies individual impacts. Community responses to the massive 2015 US west coast HAB event will be examined within a community disaster resilience framework. The impacts may be influenced by the community’s social vulnerability, dependence on commercial and recreational fisheries, as well as any immediate adaptive responses. The survey data will be used to empirically test existing indices of community social vulnerability and commercial fishing dependence that have been developed by NOAA using secondary data. The results from this analysis will identify protective factors that contribute to a community’s ability to cope with HABs, and promote cost-effective and practical means of building resilience to future HAB events in at-risk communities.
Session Title
Posters: Climate Change: Impacts, Adaptation, & Research
Keywords
Harmful algal bloom, socioeconomic impacts, climate change adaptation, fishing community resilience
Conference Track
SSE18: Posters
Conference Name
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2018 : Seattle, Wash.)
Document Type
Event
SSEC Identifier
SSE18-16
Start Date
5-4-2018 11:30 AM
End Date
5-4-2018 1:30 PM
Type of Presentation
Poster
Genre/Form
presentations (communicative events)
Contributing Repository
Digital content made available by University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Subjects – Topical (LCSH)
Algal blooms--Monitoring--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.); Fisheries--Environmental aspects--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)
Geographic Coverage
Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)
Rights
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Type
Text
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
Included in
Fresh Water Studies Commons, Marine Biology Commons, Natural Resources and Conservation Commons, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology Commons
Building resilience of coastal fishing communities to harmful algal blooms
Starting in May 2015 a massive harmful algal bloom (HAB) of the toxigenic diatom Pseudo-nitzschia occurred along the North American west coast resulting in unsafe levels of domoic acid in seafood. Subsequent fisheries harvest closures were both the longest and the most geographically widespread on record. Fishery-dependent coastal communities were severely impacted, with a fisheries resource disaster declaration occurring for the 2015-16 season of the California Dungeness crab fishery. This research aims to assess the social, cultural and economic impacts of the 2015 HAB event across 17 fishing communities on the US west coast using primary survey data. The survey instrument collected sociodemographic and economic factors hypothesized to confer resilience to HAB events as well as data that quantifies individual impacts. Community responses to the massive 2015 US west coast HAB event will be examined within a community disaster resilience framework. The impacts may be influenced by the community’s social vulnerability, dependence on commercial and recreational fisheries, as well as any immediate adaptive responses. The survey data will be used to empirically test existing indices of community social vulnerability and commercial fishing dependence that have been developed by NOAA using secondary data. The results from this analysis will identify protective factors that contribute to a community’s ability to cope with HABs, and promote cost-effective and practical means of building resilience to future HAB events in at-risk communities.
