Stanford researchers look to the ocean as a vast resource. Not for lunch. But for new fields of study.
In 2000, the University started the Stanford Fisheries Project, which combines expertise from the Law School and Hopkins Marine Station. The fish/law hybrid has focused on three practical areas for society, says law professor Barton H. “Buzz” Thompson, ’73, MBA ’75, JD ’76, co-director of the Stanford Institute for the Environment.
First is looking at how well the managers of government fisheries use scientific information, a topic of intense controversy. Second is studying how scientific discoveries might help better manage fish populations. And third is evaluating whether current research is providing government managers with the most useful information. With experts like Thompson, Roz Naylor and tuna scientist Barbara Block, the project is working to restore Atlantic swordfish, to study the best ways to create “marine reserves” where limited fishing can help fish rebound, and to use computer models to track highly migratory species, including tuna in the Pacific.
The University also is investigating a more ambitious idea: a new center for ocean solutions. Based in Monterey, the center would coordinate the work of experts at Hopkins Marine Station, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, the Monterey Bay Aquarium and other institutions. A nine-month feasibility study looms. Depending on its results, the trolling for funds may begin soon.
“If you look at the problems that our oceans face, they are greater than many of the problems facing the terrestrial world,” says Thompson, who leads the Law School’s environmental and natural resources law and policy program. They “need an expanded scientific examination and also some bold new policy efforts.”
