Huffington Post quotes Stancioff in article on fishing in Gulf of Maine
The Huffington Post quoted Esperanza Stancioff, an educator with Maine Sea Grant and University of Maine Cooperative Extension, in the article, “Troubled waters: Fishing in Gulf of Maine sheds light on urgency in protecting oceans.” A study led by the Gulf of Maine Research Institute and published in Science found temperatures in the Gulf of Maine increased faster than 99 percent of the global ocean, according to the article. Stancioff said the study shows, “the Gulf of Maine is one of the most warming oceans in the world other than an area north of Japan.” She also spoke about the problem of overfishing in the United States. “One example in Maine is the urchin population, which was decimated by overfishing,” she said. “There are complex biological and ecological relationships affecting our marine resources. And, as far as climate change goes, long-term ocean and coastal acidification will change our ocean chemistry composition the most.” Although conflicts can arise between fisheries and scientists, some collaborative efforts have been successful, according in to the article, including Stancioff’s work with lobstermen in three states for a project funded by NOAA. The socioecological model that “links together equations describing economics, biology and fishing effort” can help fishermen and women build predictive models that shed insight on pricing changes during the fishing season, according to Stancioff. “Research such as Stancioff’s can set the stage for efficient participatory planning,” the article states.