Identifying collaborative research opportunities

Due to COVID-19, an in-person gathering wouldn’t be possible, so we scheduled a webinar for late October and crossed our fingers. The purpose of the meeting was to make connections between researchers, community stewards, fishers, and managers. There are research opportunities, collaboration, and collaborative research opportunities that aren’t being identified because the right people are not connected. For example, one of the maps we prepared for the meeting showed all of the research institutions working in river herring, the habitats where the work is being done, and the communities that are collecting data on their local runs. There are 20 of those communities up and down the coast, and there are very few connections between them and the research community.

This meeting included presentations from researchers and also presentations from community-based fishermen like Bailey Bowden, who led the successful restoration of a river herring run in the Bagaduce River watershed. One change he’s noticed since the run has been re-established—kingfishers have returned! Our plenary speaker was Ed Basset, a fisheries scientist and Passamaquoddy tribal member at Sipayik, who described the tribe’s ancestral dependence on river herring and other fish and the loss of tribal food sovereignty that occurred as eastern Maine’s rivers were dammed. Ed, the Passamaquoddy tribe, and partners are now leading a series of efforts to restore the river herring run in the St. Croix River. This project will dwarf other restoration efforts in Maine, potentially bringing tens of millions of fish back to this river system and coastal waters.

The online format made it easy for everyone to connect on the same level and participate in lively discussions in virtual break-out rooms. Participants’ passion for river herring restoration and excitement about making connections translated into a unanimous interest in continuing the dialogue. “We all learned a lot more about what everyone was doing in the world of river herring,” says Thalhauser. “We learned of each other’s goals and values, and gleamed a picture of what we might be capable of if there were more communication lines and partnerships, and what the benefits could be if we worked together, rather than in our silos. The next steps for Anne and I will include testing out ideas on what future networks might look like and eventually reconvening a larger group to map out a path forward, towards real and tangible products that would be valuable to people and fish.” Connecting real-time scientific understanding with local knowledge and expertise opens doors to improved research, monitoring, and management.