Melissa Cronin - FACULTY SEARCH CANDIDATE Special Seminar March 13 (Thursday)

Abstract: Industrial fishing exerts significant pressure on marine biodiversity, ecosystems, and the coastal communities who depend on them. Addressing these challenges requires interdisciplinary methods to estimate and mitigate its impacts. This talk examines two critical dimensions of industrial fishing impacts. First, I will explore the impact of fishing on biodiversity through the development and testing of a novel bycatch reduction device—the “manta grid”—which has proven effective in reducing mortality for manta and devil rays threatened by industrial tuna purse seine fisheries. Second, I will address the socioeconomic impacts by examining conflict between small-scale and industrial fisheries, which can exacerbate resource competition and drive overfishing. To estimate the global prevalence of fisheries conflict, I combine satellite-derived industrial fishing data with socioecological indicators within a structural equation model framework to assess how, where, and why conflict occurs, and share implications for equitable marine spatial planning. These studies underscore the importance of applied interdisciplinary approaches in advancing sustainable fisheries management that protects biodiversity while enhancing the resilience and well-being of coastal communities. Finally, I will briefly share highlights from FieldFutures, an organization which has trained thousands of scientists to prevent, intervene in, and report sexual harassment and assault in the understudied though high-risk setting of scientific fieldwork.