Learn about the Marine Research Education Program (Research Theme V)

The Marine Resource Education Program (MREP), PI Jeanne Brown, GMRI

The Marine Resource Education Program (MREP) delivers multi-day fisheries science and management workshops for people involved with and affected by federal fisheries management. The Gulf of Maine Research Institution (GMRI) has established six regional MREP programs to cover all eight Regional Fishery Management Councils, all five NOAA Fisheries Regional Offices, and the six Science Centers.  The MREP regions are: Greater Atlantic (New England and Mid-Atlantic states), Southeast (South Atlantic and Gulf of America states), Caribbean (Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands), the West Coast (California, Oregon, Idaho, and Washington), the North Pacific (predominantly Alaska, with participation by fishermen also from Washington and Oregon), and the Western Pacific (Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands).

About 20-35 participants attend each of the regional workshops that teach fisheries science and management concepts, build leadership capacity, enable fishermen and other fishery stakeholders to participate productively in the fisheries management process, and improve cooperation and trust between fishermen, scientists, and managers by creating a shared language and fostering trust and respect across otherwise diametric parties.  The workshops include hands-on science, fishery survey simulations, gear demonstrations, practical sessions including mock council exercises demonstrating when and how to engage in Council public comment sessions, and delivery of a comprehensive set of resources and tools to prepare individuals to effectively engage in science and management decisions. Workshops are heavily focused on cultivating new fisheries leadership and building long-term capacity among stakeholders in each region to ensure prolonged and widespread uptake of tools, concepts, and collaborative relationships among attendees.

Since the first workshops in New England in 2002, there have been 126 MREP workshops, benefiting nearly 2,400 fisheries stakeholders, engaging hundreds of fisheries scientists, managers, researchers, and fisheries partners.