Climate Change and Communities Program

The overarching goal of the Council’s Climate Change and Communities Program, funded through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), is to implement fishery management measures that enhance climate resilience and readiness to address climate-related challenges. This includes creating plans and actions for fishery management that can support underserved Pacific Island communities, and creating products such as ecosystem status reports and assessments that are currently lacking to inform future climate-informed management decisions by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council. Program activities will be developed and implemented in close coordination with the NOAA Pacific Islands Regional Office, Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center and local fishery management agencies in the U.S. Pacific Islands region. Priority project areas will aim to develop ecosystem status reports and integrated ecosystem assessments through the preparation of fishery ecosystem plan reviews and archipelagic fishery-driven scenario planning efforts. Priorities will also assess fishery management processes to ensure flexibility and adaptability to climate impacts and ecosystem drivers as it relates to protected species interactions and ways to further community consultation and capacity-building of underserved communities, while addressing equity and environmental justice in U.S. Pacific Island fisheries.

For more information, see the Program Summary, Addressing Climate Challenges for Fisheries Management 2024-2026.

Request for Proposals to support the Program, DUE NOVEMBER 22, 2024, 5:00 p.m. (HST).