About the Fisheries Forum

The Fisheries Leadership & Sustainability Forum (Fisheries Forum) was founded in 2008. Our mission focused on providing policy-neutral support to the U.S. federal fisheries management community to encourage thoughtful leadership and a robust, effective management process for our nation’s fisheries. We worked directly with the eight regional fishery management councils, NOAA Fisheries, and stakeholders to support a creative and connected community of practice.

The Fisheries Forum’s portfolio of projects included in-person workshops, facilitated discussions, process support, and research products designed to help fishery managers gain traction on emerging issues and challenging topics. Our work explored a wide range of fisheries management and science topics, with focused expertise in strengthening the council process, accounting for risk and uncertainty, implementing ecosystem-based management, and preparing for changing ecosystem conditions.

Our work empowered individuals, councils and the broader fisheries management community to advance their work in five key ways.

• Connect. We fostered the development of professional networks and provided opportunities to share ideas and experience across roles, responsibilities and regions.
• Facilitate. We engaged fishery managers and stakeholders in respectful dialogue to identify actionable strategies to work through complex challenges and move new ideas forward.
• Innovate. We served as a thought partner to help fishery managers problem-solve, explore new ideas, and think proactively about emerging issues and challenges.
• Learn. We helped fishery managers build their substantive knowledge of fisheries science, law and policy, explore specific issues and management strategies, and translate experience into knowledge.
• Lead. We motivated fishery managers to build their skillset, cultivate their personal brand of leadership, and participate with confidence in the council process.

The Fisheries Forum was recognized as a trusted and neutral partner to the federal fisheries management process. With a national vantage point and unique skillset, the Fisheries Forum connected people, ideas and information to catalyze progress on regional and national challenges. Our body of work includes more than 35 projects including regularly scheduled “forums,” council support, and collaborations.

• Forums: We convened decision makers, staff, and invited experts from across management regions to explore high-priority topics, network with colleagues, and share experiences in a policy-neutral setting.
• Council support: We provided a wide range of services to help councils engage in targeted problem solving and support creative conversations on challenging topics.
• Collaborations: We collaborated with councils, NOAA Fisheries, stakeholder groups, and other partners to support dialogue and information sharing within and across management regions.

Resources from past projects, including agendas, summaries, and presentations, continue to be accessible through our website.

While the Fisheries Forum program in its current form is no longer active, the program’s home institution, the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, remains committed to supporting and engaging with decision makers in the realm of sustainable fisheries management. Please contact the Nicholas Institute if you have questions about the Fisheries Forum program (nicholasinstitute@duke.edu or (919) 613-8709).