A Resist‐Accept‐Direct (RAD) future for Salmon in Maine and California: Salmon at the southern edge

Abstract

North American salmon once ranged from ocean waters near the Arctic Circle southward to southern New England on the Atlantic and Mexico on the Pacific. The colonial and industrial transformation of rivers and oceans have led to extirpation or endangered status of many southern populations. Today, chronic anthropogenic stressors interact with climate change, which means that effective conservation must address changes in transformed ecosystems. Conservation goals are designed to recover both the species and their habitats. While seemingly congruent, habitat and fish management have different timetables due to speed of changes in climate, habitat, and biological processes relative to regulatory processes, habitat restoration, and project implementation. The Resist‐Accept‐Direct (RAD) framework facilitated exploration of ideas and actions to restore suitable conditions for salmon listed under the Endangered Species Act at their southern edge. Creative and big solutions are needed to recover salmon and RAD provided a way to examine conservation options to sustain salmon in an era of change.

Ecological and social strategies for managing fisheries using the Resist‐Accept‐Direct (RAD) framework

“…First, governance systems need to accommodate the spatial and temporal scale of ecosystem transformation, for example, by aligning management jurisdictions to ecologically relevant scales and/or facilitating transboundary governance forums (Cumming et al, 2006; Pinsky et al, 2018). This may be particularly important in marine systems where large‐scale redistributions of species continue to accelerate (Ojea et al, 2020) and for species with highly migratory life histories (Kocik et al, 2022; Miller et al, 2013). Similarly, efforts to ensure that RAD strategies persist across governance leadership changes are also necessary to align the temporal stability of management processes with ecosystem dynamics (e.g.…”

The diadromous watersheds-ocean continuum: Managing diadromous fish as a community for ecosystem resilience

“…This diversity contributes to biodiversity and ecosystem resilience through within and across species portfolio effects (Petitgas et al, 2010;Schindler et al, 2015;Secor et al, 2020). Genetic diversity can be important in allowing populations to face changing environmental conditions and adapt to climate changes (Crozier et al, 2008;Pess et al, 2014;Kocik et al, 2022). Ecological memory (i.e., the network of species and their dynamics that makes reorganization after disturbance possible) is a crucial component of ecological resilience and, coupled with the rich genetic diversity, is key to the adaptive capacity of the ecosystems they inhabit in the future.…”

Managing fisheries within a RAD framework: Concepts and applications

“…In commercial fisheries, fishers may put more emphasis on minor species already in their catch portfolio ( accept strategy) while investing in gear to target new species ( direct strategy) (Smith et al, 2022). Kocik et al (2022) had difficulty placing habitat improvement activities for salmon into a RAD category. They settled upon the resis t category for actions that involved improving historic or current habitats, the accept category when habitat improvements were unfeasible and efforts were directed to other species, and the direct category for actions that involved creating salmonid habitat in new areas.…”

“…First, stocking may function as a resist strategy during the initial decline of a fishery when stocking hatchery fish, along with restricted harvest, are used to rebuild a declining population (Shultz et al, 2022). Second, stocking may function as an accep t strategy if natural reproduction is irreversibly lost but a fishable population is maintained solely by stocking (Kocik et al, 2022). Finally, stocking may function as a direct strategy if new species tolerant of the altered environment are introduced (Rahel, 2022).…”

“…The pandemic had direct social impacts on fisheries due to the cessation of fishing due to public health measures and indirect impacts due to low seafood demand and supply chain disruptions. Fishers responded to these through resist strategies (e.g., fishing with a smaller crew to limit expenses; accepting government compensation to sustain their business); accept strategies (e.g., accepting a reduced income, retiring from fishing); or direct strategies (e.g., shifting to new species or pursuing other careers such as in aquaculture) Kocik et al (2022). used RAD to explore the restoration of suitable habitat conditions for salmon at their southern edge of their distribution in North America.…”