My research investigates the current and potential future impacts of global climate change on people living in rural fishery-dependent communities on the Northeast Coast of Newfoundland. I will focus particular attention on the historic fishing port of Bay de Verde and surrounding communities, including Grates Cove, Old Perlican and Red Head Cove. The area is one of the most critical places in Canada for understanding the impacts of climate change, since it is strongly impacted by the Labrador Current which carries water southward from the Arctic. I will document how different actors involved in the study area, including fishers, other area residents, marine scientists, and government officials perceive, understand, and respond to the local effects of global climate change. While my focus is on climate change, I am committed to the view that changes in marine ecosystems and coastal environments cannot be adequately understood without positioning these changes in the context of other societal and economic transformations in Newfoundland, such as economic policy reforms, trade agreements, demographic change, and resource development, wildlife management and conservation policies.

Joonas Plaan | PhD Candidate