Award: OCE-1427019

This landmark Coastal SEES program demonstrated that stakeholders in conflict could produce a collective vision for the future, work together with researchers to develop a scientific model, and use the model to come to consensus on recommendations that would improve the sustainability of a natural resource. By integrating stakeholder views through a facilitated process, by including feedbacks between humans and the natural environment in a collaboratively-built scientific model, and by testing a process that resulted in recommendations to improve coastal sustainability, this research program squarely fulfilled the core objectives of NSF?s Coastal SEES program. Specifically, the main outcome, and central effort, of this project was achieved with the successful completion of the OysterFutures Stakeholder Workgroup meetings during which stakeholders in the oyster fishery came to consensus on a sweeping package of recommendations for fisheries management and policy for oysters in the Choptank and Little Choptank Rivers in Maryland, USA. The facilitation was based the Consensus Solutions process that, when coupled with collaborative modeling, offered a structured process for the stakeholders and scientists to work together to identify management and policy options that met the needs of stakeholders and would improve the sustainability of the oyster fishery and oyster resource. A second key outcome was the development of a state-of-the-art model to simulate the effect of various management actions that were developed in collaboration with OysterFutures stakeholders. This model incorporated fisheries population dynamics, habitat dynamics, fishing effort and profit, three-dimensional circulation and oyster larval transport and had the spatial resolution at the scale at which management decisions were made. The extensive data gathering and analysis of fisheries data brought credibility to the process and helped build confidence in the model that was used by stakeholders in their decision-making process. As a result, new information and a deeper understanding of the coupled physical-biological-human system was co-developed with stakeholders. This co-development, supported by the facilitated Consensus Solutions process, resulted in well-thought-out and science-based management recommendations with broad stakeholder support. Overall, our research results advance the idea that the facilitated processes with collaborative modelling that co-develops knowledge with stakeholder groups is a useful tool for enhancing knowledge and supporting natural resource management, even in a highly contentious fishery like the oyster in Maryland. Notably, the impact of this research program will continue beyond the end of this grant. The consensus recommendations by the OysterFutures stakeholders received attention by policy makers in Maryland and were used to inform legislation in the Maryland General Assembly that called for a consensus process with collaborative modeling for managing the oyster fishery in Maryland. Following from this legislation and after two years of facilitated evaluation of potential oyster management options with a collaboratively developed model, members of the Oyster Advisory Commission agreed on a set of recommendations. This successful transition of the key ideas of the OysterFutures research program to legislatively-mandated management action is an indication of the strength of the Consensus Solutions process coupled with collaborative modeling and its possibility to improve natural resource management writ large. Two Ph.D. students, three Masters students, and one postdoctoral researcher were trained during this research program. Eleven peer-reviewed publications, three Masters theses, and one dissertation have resulted from this research. Six major datasets and computer model code were created and shared publicly (https://www.bco-dmo.org/project/686823). With over 6K views from 3K unique visitors from 54 countries, this program?s webpage (https://oysterfutures.wordpress.com/) has helped the research program and the recommendations from the OysterFutures stakeholder workgroup reach a wide audience. Last Modified: 02/24/2023 Submitted by: Elizabeth W North