Solutions
What Is Adaptation Planning?Workforce Development
The need for a stable and skilled workforce is critical in the fishing industry, including crew members, support services, and fishing captains. Through the adaptation planning effort, our communities identified a diversity of potential strategies to address current instabilities in the fisheries workforce. While crew training initiatives have expanded in the region, there is a continuing need to extend these efforts to smaller communities and expand the skillsets that are covered in the training to include wheelhouse skills. In addition, crew programs should work with existing academic institutions to facilitate accreditation and funding. Structured mentorship programs connecting experienced fishermen with the next generation could enhance training and fishing business transitions.
Communities also recognize the need to explore creative, affordable housing solutions as housing availability and affordability pose critical challenges to workforce recruitment and retention. Financial or other incentives for entry-level workers and participation in workforce development can also play an important role, including logbooks for crew members to facilitate other maritime licensing. A strong thread throughout future workforce development efforts is the development of clear, visible career pathways that help individuals move from entry-level roles into long-term positions within the industry, including opportunities for advancement, diversified maritime-related income, and
accreditation.
Decreasing Energy Consumption
In the face of increasing fisheries volatility and market uncertainties, decreasing dependence on fossil fuels would help stabilize fishermen’s profit margins by reducing operating costs. There are existing tools to understand the relative fuel usage of different elements of fishing operations and low cost opportunities to reduce fuel consumption, which need to be better advertised and potentially updated and expanded to a diversity of vessel types. Other short term pathways for energy transitions include experimenting with diverse low cost energy efficiency solutions within the seafood processing sector, facilitating grant access for fishing operations through accessible energy audit software, and pursuing novel funding opportunities for energy transitions.
Another common focus is on piloting renewable and hybrid technologies for vessels, while addressing the unique challenges of marine environments and expansion across diverse vessel types. Fishing communities also recognize the need to invest in infrastructure that supports broader energy transitions, including electric charging and novel renewable energy applications. Through partnerships with research institutions, municipalities, and industry groups, these communities are pursuing long-term, locally driven solutions that support both environmental and economic sustainability.
Working Waterfronts
Modernizing and diversifying working waterfronts is essential, allowing these spaces to support a variety of uses and evolving needs. Processing facilities need large-scale investments to facilitate technological innovation and novel product development. Working waterfronts also need diversified processing options that include small-scale, custom processing facilities, as well as multi-faceted marine support service businesses. As fishermen face increasing market volatility and ocean variability, many are turning to value-added and direct marketing strategies to stabilize their income and increase profits. To succeed in these ventures, access to diverse facilities—particularly local cold storage—is critical, enabling fishermen to process and store their own catch. Some fishing communities are actively pursuing financing for cold storage through innovative approaches, such as developing multi-use facilities funded by existing mariculture grants. Harbor infrastructure must also evolve to support the next generation of fishing vessels, including investment in electric charging stations and energy-efficient systems that align with emerging maritime energy innovations. Together, these strategies form a roadmap for more adaptive, self-reliant, and sustainable fishing communities.
Fisheries Access and Diversification
Ensuring resilient fisheries and fishing communities in the face of diverse stressors depends on maintaining equitable access to fisheries across generations and supporting diversified fishing portfolios. As species migrate and new fisheries emerge, fisheries managers and communities need a clear, forward-looking framework to guide access and allocation—one that prioritizes community-based participation and long-term stewardship. Anchoring fisheries access in local communities is a vital strategy, which can be achieved through sustained investment in Community Quota Entities (CQEs), such as exploring novel funding mechanisms and replicating successful quota purchase models. Expanding regional CQE capacity through diverse regional partnerships could integrate fisheries access with broader resilience initiatives like energy transitions, food security, and workforce development.
Diversification also hinges on access to affordable fisheries loans that mediate risk for fishermen from volatile conditions. For smaller, rural communities that have limited fisheries infrastructure and market access to participate, creative solutions include coordination with processors and tenders to incorporate fisheries landings from remote fishermen into regular delivery routes. Adaptation further requires capacity-building on the management side: training fisheries managers and stakeholders in adaptive practices, strengthening public participation through informal forums and community-led education, and revitalizing local fisheries committees to ensure grassroots input in decision-making. Real-time data collection by fishermen, combined with collaborative relationship-building efforts, can foster cross-user group cooperation and strengthen regional fisheries governance. Together, these strategies offer a path forward for securing long-term access, promoting adaptability, and reinforcing the social fabric of fishing communities.
Local Science and Monitoring
In the face of rapidly changing ocean conditions and localized environmental variability, fishing communities are advancing local science and monitoring as core adaptation strategies. Grounded in the knowledge and expertise of those who live and work on the water, community-driven science ensures that data collection is relevant, timely, and responsive to real-world conditions. Expanding citizen science programs—designed to engage diverse residents—can broaden participation in environmental monitoring and deepen public understanding of marine ecosystems. Fishermen, in particular, offer invaluable observational insight and can play a vital role in enhancing data collection efforts through collaborative research. Equipping commercial fishermen with tools and training for real-time data collection further strengthens the capacity for responsive management. Additionally, investing in emerging technologies and AI-driven tools can reduce the labor demands of traditional stock assessments, making it easier to gather, process, and act on critical data. Together, these strategies weave local knowledge with innovation, supporting a more adaptive, informed, and resilient future for fishing communities.
Seafood Competitiveness
Enhancing seafood competitiveness is another key resilience strategy for fishing communities seeking to thrive amid changing conditions and diverse stressors. Building resilient seafood economies requires diversification of markets and products, consumer education, and expanding support for custom processing and direct marketing. Broadening access to new markets—both domestic and international—alongside efforts to increase national seafood consumption and integrate more seafood into school lunch programs, can provide long-term stability for fishing communities. Diversifying seafood products, through exploring novel uses of underutilized species or fish parts, can help open new revenue streams. At the local level, encouraging restaurants to feature more local seafood and ensuring tourism operations procure local seafood can foster deeper connections between consumers and the fishing way of life. Direct marketing remains a powerful tool for fishermen; expanding the training and support provided can help more harvesters tell their stories and connect directly with consumers. Meanwhile, collaborative consumer education campaigns can elevate national recognition of the nutritional value, quality, and sustainability of Alaskan salmon. These campaigns, especially when paired with social media storytelling and firsthand accounts from fishermen, offer powerful ways to build trust, boost awareness, and ensure the next generation values and supports local seafood.
Adaptive Fisheries Management
As ocean conditions change, fishing communities identify a critical need for the fisheries management system to adopt an adaptive approach. Adaptive fisheries management is a flexible, science-based approach that emphasizes learning and adjusting strategies over time in response to changing ecological and social conditions. It also relies on continuous monitoring, stakeholder involvement, and iterative decision-making to improve outcomes and reduce uncertainty. Fishing communities stress the importance of cooperative research programs, real-time ocean data, and improved technologies as cornerstones of an adaptive fisheries management process. Moreover, as fisheries are expected to shift northward, Alaskan fishermen could gain new fishing opportunities, but they may also face growing competition from fishermen following these migrating stocks from southern regions. The policy pathways for preempting these conflicts need to be established in fisheries management. Adaptive fisheries management also needs to incorporate vulnerability assessments (inclusive of social and economic considerations) and ecosystem-based structures to ensure the long-term sustainability of fisheries and the communities that depend on them.