After a few weeks of working on my initial projects, my advisor (Rod Fujita) brought me into another project.  At the end of last year, Japan passed its first major federal fisheries reform laws in 70 years.  Their nearshore fishery is highly diverse, data-limited, and involves several gear types including a set net fishery that will be particularly difficult to regulate fairly.  Japan’s Fisheries Agency has sought EDF’s advice for potential strategies that could be utilized to manage their nearshore fisheries.  I conducted a literature review to find other case studies of nearshore fisheries management and strategies used to regulate stationary gill net fisheries that are similar to Japan’s set net fisheries.  Myself, Rod Fujita and Kazu Otsuka drafted a white paper containing our findings and advice.  It was really exciting to be directly involved in a project that will shape fisheries regulations in another country. 

Around the same time, I was able to join several members of the oceans team in a systems synthesis workshop focused on the infant industry of manufactured seafood.  Systems synthesis is a form of mapping relationships between variables that can affect an issue and how these interactions can shape the direction of possible outcomes.  The participants in the workshop each were assigned a different target group, ie the manufacturers, the consumers, the policy makers, then formed maps of outcomes.  At the end, these were combined into an infographic.  I was grateful to have been able to participate and to learn a completely new framework through which to view issues.    

I’ve also really been enjoying the social atmosphere at EDF. They are frequently having events in the office and they took all of us interns/fellows out for a hike at Point Reyes.