South Atlantic Fishery Management Council

Inflation Reduction Act Funding for Climate-Ready Fisheries

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has provided funding to the eight regional Fishery Management Councils to support Council efforts to develop and advance climate-related fisheries management and implementation. The funding is part of the Inflation Reduction Act, a historic, federal government-wide investment that will enable NOAA to support climate-ready management decisions and the resilience of communities that depend on our fisheries.

IRA Projects

This project will explore indicators of climate-driven changes in the spatial distribution and habitat associations for the fish and fisheries managed by the Council. The outcomes will inform climate-ready fisheries management and governance decisions, including updating Essential Fish Habitat designation, evaluating existing governance structures, and implementing climate-informed management.

Anticipated Timeline: January 2025 – March 2027

Contractor: TBD

Mutton Snapper swimming over hard bottom habitat.
Image: John Hunt

This project will use management decision tools or frameworks for developing management advice for a selected data-limited and climate-vulnerable species. The South Atlantic Council manages several data-limited species needing additional information to support catch-level recommendations. Due to the short grant period and level of funding, Rock shrimp and Wreckfish have been selected as the potential focus for this work.

Anticipated Timeline: March 2025 – June 2027

Contractor: RFP under development.

A wreckfish swims with it's mouth open.

This project would address the goal of improving the Council’s responsiveness to climate impacts and lead to greater climate resiliency in the management process by evaluating climate information use and availability, reviewing opportunities to use NEPA administrative tools, identifying opportunities for cooperative data collection and research, evaluating committee structure and use, and evaluating opportunities to incorporate climate-informed risk policies. This project is currently under review for funding.  

Anticipated Timeline: March 2025 – September 2027

Contractor: TBD

This project would operationalize recommendations from climate scenario planning efforts by identifying communities that interact with Council-managed species in the South Atlantic region and beyond. The Council proposes to work within constituent communities to understand their preferences for engagement and their understanding of climate impacts, to then better inform them of the Council process and how they can effectively engage with it.

Anticipated Timeline: January 2025 – September 2027

Contractor: TBD

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council has successfully contracted a Climate Projects Coordinator, who will work with Council staff, contractors, and others to coordinate the IRA-funded climate projects.

Coordinator Tasks:

Anticipated Timeline: August 2024 – November 2027

Contractor: Lara Klibansky

Atlantic Coast Climate Scenario Planning

Scenario planning is a strategic tool used to prepare for uncertain futures, such as the impacts of climate change on East Coast fisheries. Recognizing the challenges of shifting fish stocks, East Coast fishery management organizations initiated a two-year scenario planning exercise (2021-2023) to address jurisdictional and governance issues. The process began with developing a scenario framework outlining four possible futures, created with input from hundreds of fishery stakeholders. Later, fishery managers used these scenarios to assess potential governance and management adaptations to address future climate-related conditions. For more information on scenario planning, visit the dedicated Mid Atlantic Fishery Management Council page.