Dillard, M. K., Edwards, P. E. T., Levine, A., Loerzel, J., Lovelace, S.

Fishing for local knowledge and use of coral reefs

Presented at the Social Coast Forum, February 18-20, 2014, Charleston, SC

2014

NOAA Office of Coastal Management; NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service

39

Presentation

"NOAAs Coral Reef Conservation Program, in partnership with the Hollings Marine Laboratory, is leading a new effort to incorporate social and economic monitoring into a new, integrated national monitoring plan for US coral reef jurisdictions. The National Coral Reef Monitoring Plan includes three components: biological, climate, and for the first time, socioeconomic. The socioeconomic component will include gathering information on population change, use of coral reef resources, and knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of coral reef resources and management. The overall goal of the socioeconomic monitoring component is to track relevant information regarding each jurisdictions social and economic structure in order to investigate both the impacts of society on coral reefs, and the contributions of healthy corals to nearby communities. Social scientists will utilize indicators developed in consultation with stakeholders, partners and other scientists. Data will be collected through surveys of residents in the US coral reef jurisdictions and the collection of existing socioeconomic data from secondary sources such as the US Census and local government agencies. This information will be of great use to jurisdictional resource managers, educators, and other key partners for monitoring changes in coral reef dependent communities to ensure effective management, education/outreach, and conservation programs. NOAAs Coral Reef Conservation Program will use the information to evaluate and improve the results of programs designed to protect coral reefs. Prioritized indicators, monitoring methods, and example results will be presented to highlight the role of social monitoring and the inclusion of local knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions in resource management."

National Coral Reef Monitoring Plan (NCRMP); socioeconomic monitoring

FY2013 CRCP Project ID 743; Project Title: National Coral Reef Monitoring Plan (NCRMP) Implementation (Socioeconomic Monitoring); Principal Investigator: Jessica Morgan