Charting a course for the future of coastal communities: Considering perceptions and values in climate vulnerability assessments

Abstract

The effects of climate change on fisheries are already apparent, impacting the livelihoods, wellbeing, and food security of communities dependent on marine ecosystems. The resulting vulnerability is distributed unequally among those communities and is a function of the exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity to the impacts of climate change. Vulnerability assessments, an increasingly important approach for understanding variability in susceptibility to climate change, often fail to include or recognize the perceptions of individuals in the focal system. Perceptions of vulnerability may differ from vulnerability measured by subject experts, and failure to acknowledge perceptions as well as the value in local knowledge systems can lead to ineffective climate adaptation plans and lack of support for climate policies. In this dissertation I explore several concepts related to perceptions of climate change vulnerability in fishing communities along the West Coast of the United States. First, working with individuals involved in fisheries management, I used Q methodology to elicit commonly held views regarding priorities for wellbeing in coastal communities. Next, I investigated the beliefs of individuals in those communities by conducting an online and phone survey of commercial fishers from Washington, Oregon, and California to assess variability in perceptions of climate change vulnerability. Since perceived barriers to adaptation may limit action even when one has the resources to do so, I also used survey data to examine views regarding adaptive capacity. The final component draws upon transdisciplinary methods, including co-production with Indigenous communities and nutritional science, to consider how the impacts of climate change on fisheries may affect the food security of the Makah Tribe. Collectively, this work shines a light on the importance of perceptions and values in planning for climate change and highlights the importance of engaging communities to chart a course towards more equitable and effective adaptation.