URI_Research_Magazine_Momentum_Fall_2017_Melissa-McCarthy

working with The Nature Conservancy to implement an automated system of data collection on fishing vessels to improve management of the country’s commercial fisheries for grouper and snapper. But sustainable fishing practices are not just a concern in the developing world. This year the Rhode Island Science and Technology Advisory Council funded a new $85,000 project in which Humphries will collaborate with the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management and Providence-based company FarSounder Inc. to use the company’s three- dimensional sonar to provide more accurate counts of pelagic schools of fish in Rhode Island waters. “Menhaden catches in the U.S. are greater than all other fish species combined,” Humphries says. “We want to improve our methods of assessing the biomass of menhaden in Rhode Island so we can manage them with more certainty. If menhaden populations decline, the effects will ripple throughout the marine food chain

According to Humphries, Indonesia has the most biodiverse coral reefs in the world, and half of the world’s small-scale fishermen are there. The country’s government is trying to implement an ecosystem-based fishery management system that will consider the impacts of fisheries on fish populations, habitats and species interactions, while also incorporating the social and economic context in which the fisheries operate. “Indonesia is one of the first countries in the world that’s taking steps toward formalizing a holistic management plan for coral reef fisheries that considers multiple ecosystem trade-offs,” he says. “My project will provide the government with vital information for that initiative.” This isn’t the only sustainable fisheries project Humphries is undertaking in Indonesia. He is also working with anthropologists and social scientists to evaluate how coral reef restoration affects the wellbeing of local fishing communities. Humphries is also

Scuba diving off Lombok Island, Indonesia, counting coral reef fish to determine the effectiveness of a Marine Protected Area in increasing fish abundance and biomass available for fisheries.

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