Cooperative Research Fosters Regional Partnerships
The future and sustainability of our region’s fisheries depends on collaboration. By cultivating meaningful partnerships to support effective research we can develop more efficient fishing gear, better data, and stronger markets.
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The Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s Cooperative Research Branch is dedicated to bringing together fishing and science communities in the region to advance fisheries science and management. By providing opportunities to develop partnerships and communication pathways, we can realize the potential of cooperative research in the Northeast.
2025 Northeast Cooperative Research Summit
The Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s Cooperative Research Branch is hosting the 2025 Northeast Cooperative Research Summit in Portland, Maine, on January 28, 2025.
This one-day event will bring together scientists, fishermen, managers, and fishing community representatives to:
- Share the approaches and results of new cooperative research projects or those that have recently been concluded
- Identify opportunities for expanding the contributions of the fishing community to research
- Facilitate regional coordination of cooperative research
- Develop new partnerships between the fishing and science communities
- Identify priorities for near-term science and management challenges that can be addressed by cooperative research
This year we are soliciting presentations on new or recently completed cooperative research projects. Both scientists and members of the fishing community are encouraged to submit presentations.
We will also be hosting breakout discussions focused on high priority research topics, facilitating a research prioritization exercise, and providing ample time for networking and conversation. Fishermen, scientists (including graduate students and early career scientists), and other parties who are engaged or interested in cooperative research are encouraged to attend.
For details about the upcoming Northeast Cooperative Research Summit on January 28, 2025, and instructions for registration, please visit the event page.
Please note that registration for this event closes on November 8, 2024.
Previous Northeast Cooperative Research Summits
The Northeast Cooperative Research Summit was developed in response to input and recommendations gathered during a series of Stakeholder Engagement Sessions in 2019. These one-day summits brought together scientists, managers, and members of the fishing community to:
- Communicate and coordinate the variety of cooperative fisheries research being conducted in the Northeast
- Discuss opportunities for enhanced industry involvement
- Outline best practices for applying cooperative research results to assessments and management.
The Northeast Cooperative Research Summits have been described as “the best interaction among scientists, managers, and industry in 20+ years”. The NEFSC’s Cooperative Research Branch plans to host these summits annually, alternating locations among states.
In January and February 2023, summits were held in Newport News, Virginia and Providence, Rhode Island. In February 2024, the summit was held in Cape May, New Jersey. At each of these events, more than 100 people from the fishing community gathered with scientists to discuss ongoing projects and research needs and to forge new partnerships.
Small-group breakout sessions with panels of experts from the fishing and science communities focused on:
- Industry-based surveys
- Offshore wind science
- Stock assessments
- Ecosystem drivers
- Conservation gear engineering
Breakout discussions focused on how the fishing and science communities can work together to address these high priority research areas.
Through research prioritization exercises at these summits, we identified the evolving priorities for cooperative research across the Northeast. This annual and collaborative research prioritization exercise provides a cohesive vision and path for cooperative research in the region. The summits will continue to develop partnerships and shared goals between the fishing and science communities in the years to come.
Northeast Cooperative Research Summit Reports:
2021 Cooperative Research Virtual Workshops: Facing the Challenges of COVID-19
Data collection for ongoing research and monitoring was a challenge throughout 2020. Individuals and institutions worked to adapt techniques—and expectations—to a new set of physical restrictions combating the spread of COVID-19. To share with and learn from our partners, we organized two webinars in early 2021. They focused on how scientists and industry partners adapted projects and leveraged self-reported data collection strategies to continue conducting science during a global health crisis. The sentiment at both webinars was optimistic. Around 175 fisheries professionals fueled an engaging discussion that was well received. Attendees and presenters represented a resourceful and highly motivated community dedicated to conducting cooperative research that benefits all stakeholders.
Find out more about our presenters.
Ten Takeaways from Each Webinar
The first webinar, titled “Cooperative Research Field Work in a Pandemic,” featured four projects that safely completed field work aboard commercial fishing vessels during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cooperative Research Field Work in a Pandemic
- Belief in the importance and value of the research
- Mutual trust in keeping each other healthy and safe at sea
- Thorough planning for each step in the field work process
- Consideration of each individual’s risk tolerance
- Smaller, “podded” field teams
- Infection prevention prior to sailing, including repeated testing, isolation, and symptom tracking
- Modifications to vessel staging and travel
- Expecting and adjusting to higher costs (and stress!)
- Having a Plan B in case someone gets sick, such as relying on industry partners and electronic technologies to collect data (getting some data is better than getting none)
- Teamwork, the heart of cooperative research
The second webinar in the series, titled “Filling the Gaps with Self-Reported Data,” featured four projects that engage fishermen in collecting catch, effort, biological, and environmental data to help fill spatial and temporal gaps.
Filling the Gap with Self-Reported Data
- Face-to-face interactions and relationships that cooperative research relies on are harder to maintain during a pandemic
- More regular and diverse communication mechanisms ensure that issues are being resolved and projects continue operating
- Thorough planning mitigates risk when interactions are necessary
- Delays in data delivery occurred, but timeliness improved as solutions were developed throughout the pandemic
- Relaxed deadlines and flexibility in compensation supported and showed our appreciation of industry partners collecting the self-reported data
- Researchers adapted to provide remote technical support services, such as phone and remote access to equipment/devices, and recorded training videos for new vessels
- Self-reported data remained remarkably stable, with levels of data collection and reporting similar to non-pandemic years, especially after the initial wave of the pandemic
- Shared value of the data is key to continued participation and data quality
- Self-reported data is valuable for science but also for fishermen as an opportunity to learn about the ocean that supports their businesses
- Even during a global health crisis, the industry is generous with their time, their fish, their data, and their partnerships
The 2019 Engagement Sessions
In the fall of 2019, we hosted a series of stakeholder engagement sessions. They gathered fishermen and research partners together to discuss research ideas and priorities for future projects, and to share past research successes and lessons learned. One priority that emerged from these sessions was a need to facilitate regional coordination of cooperative research and the development of new partnerships.
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Engagement Session Outcomes
After our engagement sessions, we summarized the results across sessions and compiled them into a report.
Get the full report here:
Cooperative Research in the Northeast Region: Stakeholder Priorities (PDF, 13 pages)
Stay Connected
- Contact: Giovanni Gianesin - Cooperative Research Communications Specialist
- Join our Cooperative Research Branch email list.
- Cooperative Research in the Northeast