Santa Barbara Maritime Museum Logbook

The Future of Seafood Under Climate Change
Lecture by Christopher M. Free, Ph.D.

Where: Santa Barbara Maritime Museum, 113 Harbor Way, Santa Barbara
When: Thursday, January 16, 2020 at 7:00pm
Doors open to SBMM Members at 6:15pm and to Non-members at 6:45pm
Cost:  $10 (SBMM Members) * $20 (Non-members)
Register: www.sbmm.org or (805) 456-8747

Sponsored by: Marie Morrisroe

Climate change is reshaping ocean ecosystems and their ability to provide food and income for people. Using his research on the California Dungeness crab fishery, Dr. Chris Free will discuss (1) how climate change is altering ocean physics, chemistry, and biology, (2) why and how these changes impact ocean creatures; and (3) what these changes mean for people. The Dungeness crab fishery is the most economically important fishery in California state waters but has suffered recent shutdowns due to harmful algal blooms and the entanglement of whales in crab fishing gear. Both of these challenges are expected to become worse under climate change and Chris will show how his research team is developing and testing solutions.

Beginning with his interest in quantitative ecology, Chris received a BA in Conservation Biology from Middlebury College, where he studied the population dynamics and sustainable management of tropical trees. Following graduation, he worked as a researcher with the US Forest Service on seabird conservation at Audubon Alaska and as a fisheries field technician at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab. Chris did his doctoral work with Olaf Jensen at Rutgers University, where he worked on small-scale fisheries management, data-limited stock assessment, and impacts of climate change on global fisheries. His research uses quantitative and interdisciplinary methods to explore solutions to aquatic conservation and management problems. Currently a post doc with the Sustainable Fisheries Group at UCSB, Chris will be working to assess the impact of climate change and management reform on country-level fisheries health and profitability.

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