Declining Expectations - The Phenomenon of Shifting Baselines

Module Description:
The NCSR Marine Fisheries Series is provided by the Northwest Center for Sustainable Resources and includes ten modules. This series is designed to cover issues related to “marine fisheries with an emphasis on those species that are commercially harvested in the United States. The ten modules include Marine Fisheries Overview, Marine Fisheries – Introduction and Status, Marine Fisheries – Causes for Decline and Impacts, Marine Fisheries – Management and Proposed Solutions, Declining Expectations – The Phenomenon of Shifting Baselines, The Role of Marine Reserves in Ecosystem-based Fishery Management, The Decline of Atlantic – A Case Study, Comprehensive Resources for NCSR Marine Fisheries Series, Shrimp Farming – Environmental and Social Impacts, and Where Does Your Seafood Come From?

Declining Expectations – The Phenomenon of Shifting Baselines is the fifth of ten modules. In this module “shifting baselines are defined and their contribution to fishery declines discussed. Various methods that are used to establish historical baselines are described and illustrated with case studies.” The module can be taught independently or as part of the series. 

Module Contents:
The PowerPoint presentation includes lecture notes and “provides an examination of the phenomenon of shifting baselines and its application to fisheries management.”

The 38-page document provides information about the module and includes six sections: NCSR Marine Fisheries Series, Declining Expectations – The Phenomenon of Shifting Baseline, Objectives, General Lecture Outline, PowerPoint Presentation with Instructor Notes, and Resources.