Illustration created by Ana Pozas and Karly McMullen with information from Palacios-Abrantes et al. (2020)


Regulatory boundaries and species distributions often do not align. This is especially the case for at least 633 marine species crossing multiple Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs). This misalignment represents a challenge for fisheries management, as policies tend to focus at the national level, yet international collaborations are needed to maximize long-term ecological, social and economic benefits of shared marine species. Climate change is driving shifts in distribution of fish stocks towards areas with cooler environment, generally in higher latitude or deeper water. Particularly, distribution shifts in fish stocks that straddle between national jurisdictions or EEZs are challenging transboundary fisheries management. Using both global and regional examples, my research aims to answer the following questions: