A framework for the preliminary assessment of vulnerability of fisheries-dependent communities

• Main Author: Berns, Richard Hunter
• Other Authors: Conway, Flaxen, College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: English; unknown
• Published: Oregon State Unversity
• Subjects: Kodiak; Alaska
• Online Access: https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/graduate_projects/5x21tk70q

Global climate change is projected to have far-ranging effects on the oceans and marine life. In turn, fisheries will likely undergo changes in their distributions and abundance. Coastal Alaskan communities are often highly dependent on commercial fisheries, and as a result will likely be vulnerable to climate change. The purpose of this project is to construct a framework for a preliminary assessment of the vulnerability of the fisheries-dependent communities in Alaska to climate change and variability. Employing an indicator-based framework, vulnerability is assessed according to the level of natural, social, and economic capital found in each community. A graphical instrument is used to communicate these findings. The communities of Cordova, Kodiak, Petersburg, Seward, and Sitka are assessed using this method and found to have differing levels of capital and vulnerabilities.