October 18, 2023 — New Jersey’s coastal fishers vulnerable to some of global warming’s harshest effects
For hundreds of years, business owners engaged in New Jersey’s commercial fisheries industry have weathered adversity, from coastal storms to species shifts. Recognizing this resilience, and acknowledging the challenges posed by global climate change, Rutgers scientists have come to their assistance.
One of the results of recent efforts is a guide that researchers have developed for marine businesses, A Resilience Checklist for New Jersey’s Commercial Fishing Industry.
Lisa Auermuller, director of the Megalopolitan Coastal Transformation Hub, which is funded by the National Science Foundation and based in the Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences in the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences (SEBS), worked with a number of Rutgers scientists on the effort, including Douglas Zemeckis, a marine extension agent, and Eleanor Bochenek, the retired director of the Fisheries Cooperative Center, and Richard Lathrop, director of the Rutgers Center for Remote Sensing and Spatial Analysis.