Healthy and productive fisheries are an essential component of the U. S. economy.

There is increasing concern about the impacts of climate variability and change on fish stocks, fisheries, and marine ecosystems in the U. S. Climate variability and change influences many parameters (e.g.

extreme

credit: COURTESY PHOTO/U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Stephen Lehmann

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events, winds, ocean temperatures, stratification, currents, coastal precipitation, inundation, etc.) that directly and indirectly affect marine ecosystem conditions including the abundance, distribution, and productivity of fish stocks that support economically important fisheries.

Sustainable fisheries management in a changing climate requires an improved understanding of how climate, fishing, and other stressors interact to affect fish stocks (including their habitats and prey), fisheries and fishing-dependent communities.

To address these issues of growing concern, in 2014 the Office of Atmospheric Research (OAR) Climate Program Office and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Office of Science and Technology launched a new partnership to advance understanding of climate-related impacts on fish or other species that support economically important fisheries and fishing communities.

The goal is to inform sustainable fisheries management and promote resilience of the nation’s fish stocks and fisheries in a changing climate.

For FY17, this OAR/NMFS partnership, through the Coastal and Ocean Climate Applications (COCA) Program, will continue to take a regional approach to improving the resilience and adaptation of fisheries in a changing climate by soliciting proposals under two competitions.

The first competition solicits proposals for projects in the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem (CCLME) and the second competition solicits proposals for projects in the Northeast US Continental Shelf Large Marine Ecosystem (NESLME).