Marco Hatch, Ph.D.

Digging together: Equitable partnerships in sea garden restoration

Indigenous people along the Pacific Northwest coasts of the U.S. and Canada have been building sea gardens for at least 3,500 years. These structures modify beaches and subtidal areas with rock walls and terraces to increase the growth rates and abundance of large clam species and contribute to a resilient and sustainable food system. The impacts of colonialism interrupted active management of most sea gardens. But a growing movement to reactivate sea garden stewardship in the Pacific Northwest provides an opportunity to combine mainstream science with intergenerational ecosystem knowledge to restore these culturally important shellfish areas in support of marine conservation.

As a marine scientist and a member of the Samish Indian Nation, Marco Hatch will further development of a clam garden network, advancing equitable and sustained partnerships between researchers and Indigenous communities to determine community science needs and support Indigenous-led restoration of ancestral sea gardens throughout the Pacific Northwest. Hatch will share effective practices for forming equitable research partnerships to scale up an Indigenous-led revival of sea garden technology.

To learn more about Hatch, read his bio. 

See the full list of 2023 Pew marine fellows.