Using Collaborative Learning, Cultural Models and Dialogue to Advance Co-management Planning of the Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab (Callinectes sapidus)
Fishery
Chesapeake blue crab stocks have faced intense fishing pressure, especially since the demise of the Bay's oyster fishery. Commercial crabbers – known locally as watermen – have endured increasing regulations and dwindling harvests. Watermen have become part of the very fabric of Chesapeake Bay culture and heritage, and bring their own knowledge and experience to the issue of fisheries management. In this project anthropologist Michael Paolisso and his colleagues will work directly with watermen and their communities to explore ways of building bridges and increasing understanding between technical experts and those who make their living from the Bay. This work will help lay the foundation for considering new "co-management" paradigms, by helping to empower those who work the Bay in regulating the crabbing industry.
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Michael Paolisso and Erve Chambers
University of Maryland College Park
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