Putting the Fishing Industry First at the Cooperative Research Summit

On April 1 and 2, we held our fourth annual Northeast Cooperative Research Summit in Riverhead, Long Island, New York. We had more than 150 participants, including more than 30 commercial and recreational fishermen-the largest gathering to date.

The Summit is an annual event focused on building partnerships between the fishing and science communities to address science and management needs. It prioritizes active participation of commercial and recreational fishing industry members and includes:

• Learning about ongoing cooperative research initiatives
• Small group activities to practice active collaboration
• Large group discussions of shared research priorities

This year, the Cornell Cooperative Extension Marine Program joined the effort, organizing the Shinnecock port tours, opening and closing receptions, and lending other support. "Cornell Cooperative Extension was very happy to jointly organize the 2026 Summit. Our staff has attended each Summit since it started in 2023. It's informative, engaging, and fun," said Scott Curatolo-Wagemann, senior educator for Cornell Cooperative Extension. "We're extremely honored and proud to be a bigger part of the Summit this year. Each year, the extension staff and I come away from the Summit with a feeling of optimism and renewed dedication to cooperative research."

This Summit is the only one of its kind. There are no other events-in our region or nationally-that specifically focus on bringing scientists and fishermen together to actively build research partnerships. It's mindfully structured to be engaging and meaningful for all participants, and does not follow a traditional conference format.

The Summit is designed to face the challenges facing fisheries head on and develop actionable solutions as a team. "It's not just about getting people in a room and listening to presentations. The point is to meet each other and have hard conversations. You might disagree, but then you have to find a way forward," said Anna Mercer, Cooperative Research Branch chief and summit organizer.

Shinnecock Port Visit

On April 1, the Extension Program organized a tour of the Shinnecock commercial fishing docks. Participants rotated through three learning stations, including the fishing dock, pack-out dock, and inlet. They met local fishermen, fishing industry members, and others to learn about the port, its history, and fishing activities.

Shinnecock Commercial Fishing Dock

At this station, participants learned about the challenges and opportunities of working out of Shinnecock from some of the commercial fishermen who use the dock, including:

• Frank Green, F/V Bookie andG & G Seafood
• John Berglin, F/V Mary Elizabeth
• Tim and Matt Froelich, F/V Liberty and Freedom Fisheries
• Rick Stevens, F/V Miss Independence
• Ann Welker, Suffolk County Legislator

Shinnecock Inlet

Participants at the inlet station met with two local fishermen, Bill Reed, F/V Providence, and Jeff Kraus, F/V Alisha J, who are actively engaged in cooperative research. They talked about the changes they've seen over the decades, what they fish for, how they fish, and their cooperative research experiences.

Some of what the fishermen shared resonated with participants, particularly commercial fishermen. "Listening to the Shinnecock guys, every topic they brought up was completely relatable to the challenges I have on Cape Cod," said Ken Baughman, Captain, F/V Chaser. "I get a little bit of hope coming to the summit each year."

Shinnecock Pack-Out Dock

The pack-out dock is where fishermen offload their catch. Here, participants listened to the former manager of the pack-out dock, Bill Pell, and bayman, Ed Warner Jr., share some of their experiences working there. They also learned how seafood landed in Shinnecock is handled.

Opening Reception

The Cornell Cooperative Extension organized an amazing opening reception and networking event at Jerry & The Mermaid in Riverhead, New York. Owner and head chef Jerry Dicecco Jr. and his team prepared hors d'oeuvres and buffet from local seafood generously supplied by fishermen and industry:

Summit Day: All Hands On Deck

April 2 was jam-packed with:

• Introductions, presentations
• Breakout sessions
• Networking opportunities
• Industry input activities
• Booths
• Posters

This year, our industry highlight featuring Captain Mark Philips of the F/V Illusion and F/V Prevail. Afterwards, there was a closing reception organized by Cornell Cooperative Extension.

Presentations

The summit featured 12 talks about cooperative research in our region, ranging in topics from:

• Bluefin tuna, squid, striped bass, and spider crabs
• Using exempted fishing permits to support cooperative research
• Collecting fishing community input to understand ocean co-use
• Developing new scientific products from data collected by fishermen

Breakout Sessions

Our cooperative research staff developed and co-led four new breakout sessions. They're designed to generate discussion, foster shared learning between the commercial fishing industry and scientists, cultivate ideas, improve data tools, and more.

Full Steam Ahead: Charting the Course for the Next Wave of Cooperative Research

Members from the commercial fishing community led this session by sharing their views about the future of cooperative research. Participants discussed ideas, asked questions, and shared ways to bridge the gaps between industry insights and scientific discovery. Fishing community panelists included:

• Rick Bellavance, F/V Priority Too, Rhode Island
• Bill Bright, F/V Retriever and F/V Defiance, New Jersey
• Andrew Cohalan, F/V Searcher and F/V TNT, Barnegats Best Seafood, New Jersey
• Dustin Delano, NOAA Fisherman in Residence, Chair of New England Fishermen's Stewardship Association, Maine
• Eric Hesse, F/V Tenacious II, Massachusetts
• Jeff Kraus, F/V Alisha J, New York
• Joe Letourneau, F/V Lady Rebecca, New Hampshire
• Malcolm McClintock, F/V Bulldog, New York
• Mark Phillips, F/V Prevail, New York
• Chris Rainone, F/V Annice Marie, New Jersey
• Al Schaffer, F/V Exit Strategy and F/V Leatherneck, New York
• Tor Vincent, F/V Lucky Strike, New York
• Wes Brighton, F/V Martha Elizabeth and F/B Martha Rose, Massachusetts

Fishing for Feedback: Shaping the Tools You Actually Need

In this session, leads demonstrated two environmental data portals designed for fishermen:

Discussion after the demos focused on how to make these data tools more useful to the fishing industry. "Talking to fishermen at the summit helped me see how we can both benefit from this type of collaboration. They help us collect additional data from the ocean and we provide models or websites that can help them make better fishing decisions," said Xiangyan Yang, doctoral candidate at Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, New York. "When we're working together as a group, gathering data but also creating things that are useful to the fishermen, that's when I feel like I am really contributing."

What You're Seeing Matters: Bringing Fishermen's Observations to Management

This session, led by scientists from our State of the Ecosystem team, focused on sharing and discussing interesting or unusual on-the-water observations that commercial and recreational fishermen, researchers, and others experienced in 2025. Session leads also asked participants for input on what other kinds of information the State of the Ecosystem team should consider collecting. They also discussed what input methods the team might try using to collect on-the-water observations.

The Art of the Compromise: Navigating Fisheries Survey Design

The goal of this session was to learn how to develop an effective fisheries survey. This complex process requires balancing many elements against the realities of vessel platforms, budget constraints, and difficult trade-offs. Participants got first-hand experience developing fisheries surveys for semi-pelagic species, monkfish, structure-oriented species, flatfish, and squid. They debated scope, seasonality, gear, and more.

Other Idea Sharing and Learning Activities

During breaks, participants were encouraged to visit booths, share ideas, and network. This is critical for making new connections and supporting existing ones.

"I wouldn't be able to make these social connections anywhere else. Having face-to-face and social networking opportunities are even more important than the talks," said Aaron Whitman, Senior Research Associate at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute.

Another activity participants engaged in was identifying and ranking research priorities important to the fishing community and scientists. Participants could also write in research ideas or topics on a separate poster. Summit organizers use this information to help inform future cooperative research projects.

Participants also worked together in groups to define what cooperative research is to someone unfamiliar with the concept. Key components from group definitions were used to create a word cloud, summarizing the collective input and identifying common threads and trends.

Industry Highlight: Captain Mark Phillips

This year's industry highlight featured Captain Mark Phillips of the F/V Illusion and F/V Prevail. He's been fishing and participating in cooperative research for nearly 65 years. His interest in cooperative research stemmed from a yearning to understand what the changing environmental conditions meant for commercial fishing. He shared how fishermen can provide context research vessels might miss. He also reflected on how the tools of the trade changed over the course of his career. He noted that while they made fishing easier, foundational skills like navigation and net mending are being lost. He shared how unusual catches of rare species-like an oarfish-and novel instruments kept his curiosity alive all these years.

Mark noted that the future needs mutual trust, softening rigid thinking that both fisheries managers and fishermen can both have. He noted that having an open mind is important for fostering collaboration. Also important are people who can speak to both the science and fishing communities-they can be the bridges to facilitate the hard conversations necessary for progress. He noted that recruiting young people remains a significant challenge because of the total commitment of one's life to the sea. He joked, "I come to land to visit, my residency is the Atlantic Ocean." Finally, when asked to describe his best day as a fisherman, he responded, his son being born. He continued, "I got my son, my second boat, the Illusion, and my house all in 3 weeks."

Next Steps

The summit glow still lingers and continues to fuel organizers and participants to keep showing up, working together, sharing, and collaborating. This momentum is important to the future of our region's fisheries.

"The summit was a great event to help define next steps for cooperative research in our region," said Jon Hare, director of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center. "Working collaboratively with mutual purpose and respect is the way forward."

In the coming months, we'll compile and publish Summit findings into a final report. Our annual reports document what was discussed, track ideas and research, and identify challenges that need solving.