Jennifer Jacquet, Ph.D.

Research

Exploring the political pathways and viability of an international agreement to close the high seas to fishing

Jennifer Jacquet is an environmental social scientist who studies large-scale “cooperation dilemmas”—such as overfishing, climate change, and the wildlife trade—that cannot be addressed effectively without the involvement of many parties with competing interests.

Because so many fisheries close to shore have been exploited, fishing vessels are moving into deeper waters in the search for new species. That includes more fishing in the high seas, the 58% of the ocean that is beyond national jurisdiction. This development has prompted efforts to close the high seas to fishing, a step that a 2014 study says would bring both biological and economic benefits. The study found, for example, that fisheries operating within national waters would achieve higher catches and profits.

As a Pew marine fellow, Jacquet built upon existing analyses of policy scenarios examining the possibility of closing the high seas to fishing. She explored the political pathways and viability of such a policy and identified the expected winners and losers of such an approach. Her project provided a better understanding of the feasibility of changing fisheries policies in the high seas.

To learn more about Jacquet, read her bio.

See the rest of the 2016 Pew Marine Fellows.