Understanding information needs and pathways for the incorporation of climate change into Great Lakes fisheries management

Climate change is predicted to impact the Great Lakes through a variety of mechanisms and in order to protect the economically, socially, and ecologically valuable Great Lakes, fisheries managers will need to adapt to those impacts. Such adaptation will require more information and research about what the impacts on the fishery will be and which impacts are the most serious. As researchers collect data on climate change and Great Lakes fisheries, they should remain cognizant of their audiences\u27 needs and the appropriate communication channels for those audiences. This research employed a mixed-methods approach to understand how to facilitate the delivery of useful and usable climate change information to Great Lakes fisheries managers. First, using the results from focus groups with researchers from the Great Lakes Fishery Commissions\u27 (GLFC) lake technical committees and an email survey of GLFC decision and policy makers, this research identified minimal incorporation of climate change information into current Great Lakes fisheries management. This study then identified a number of possible mechanisms for the incorporation of climate change into the adaptive management framework of the Great Lakes fishery. Two of the biggest needs for the incorporation of climate change into Great Lakes fisheries adaptive management are increased monitoring and modeling efforts. Through the focus groups and surveys of Great Lakes fishery managers, we were able to identify data and information priorities for climate change research in the Great Lakes as well as preferred modes for receiving information. The preferred modes for receiving information are particularly important because many of the managers believe that helpful information exists, but has not been made readily available. Finally, using network analysis, we identified the affiliation network of organizations with which the Great Lakes Fishery Commission decision and policy makers identified formal or informal relationships. The network is complex (149 organizations) and encompasses a range of organizations with very different priorities and responsibilities. In the network, more than one-third of all relationships were identified as informal further indicating the need for the consideration of both formal and informal ties in natural resource management. Additionally, the affiliation network revealed a number of important roles within the Great Lakes Fishery Commission for information dissemination and collection such as the coordinating roles of GLFC staff and the bridging role of stakeholder advisors. Overall, this research is identifies possibilities for the incorporation of climate change science and policies as well as the information needs and communication pathways to enable that incorporation