Addressing environmental injustices through transdisciplinary science and technology

This project is establishing a new model for environmental monitoring centred on the expertise of coastal fishing communities. The initiative began in response to the 2021 and 2022 crustacean die-offs on the Yorkshire coast, home to one of Europe’s largest lobster fishing grounds. While official investigations attributed the die-off to algal blooms, fishers reported no signs of algae, and their expertise went largely unrecognised. With official reports failing to acknowledge decades of collective knowledge from local fishers, trust between the community and government regulators was severely damaged. 

This project places fishers’ knowledge at the centre of a new socio-technical approach to environmental monitoring.  The project’s vision, developed in partnership with North Sea Conservation, is to embed fishers’ knowledge and priorities directly into environmental monitoring technology and associated decision-making processes for the Yorkshire coast. We are working on the principle that technology designed with, and not for, marginalized groups can disrupt persistent injustices.

Working with North Sea Conservation and drawing on interdisciplinary expertise, the project combines engineering, environmental social science and historical insights to co-design water monitoring technologies that reflect the priorities and observations of local fishing communities.  We are leading co-development efforts with local fishers to create a new generation of monitoring tools. The goal is to produce data that provides legitimacy and standing to fisher knowledge in marine management settings.