Jake Kritzer

Work

Jake Kritzer serves as the principle scientific advisor to the Environmental Defense Fund Oceans team in New England working to reform management of important regional fisheries through catch shares, such as the iconic and historical fishery for cod, haddock, flounder and other groundfish. He also advises regional fisheries managers through seats on key scientific committees, and works with fellow scientists in government, academia and other organizations to guide and conduct new cooperative research, improve the scientific basis for fisheries management, and therefore ensure the success of catch share systems.

In addition, Jake is working with Environmental Defense Fund colleagues and other partners to develop new approaches for fisheries management challenges beyond large federally-managed stocks. These include mitigating unintended bycatch of river herring in ocean trawl fisheries, and rebuilding the small-scale and locally-managed fishery for Nantucket bay scallops. Both projects will serve as models for similar challenges in the region and elsewhere, while preserving natural resources with tremendous ecological and heritage value to coastal communities.

Jake’s previous research work, first as a doctoral student and then as a post-doctoral fellow, focused on coral reef fish ecology in Australia, Latin America and the Middle East. He then joined Environmental Defense Fund as the first Dennis Puleston Fellow, honoring the founding trustee of the organization. As the Puleston Fellow, Jake built a program aimed at restoring spawning runs of river herring and brook trout in the unique coastal streams of Long Island. That program continues through a partnership with the Seatuck Environmental Association, which now houses the Environmental Defense Fund Puleston Fellow. Jake continues to advise Environmental Defense Fund’s initiatives on tropical fisheries and Long Island streams.

Background

• Member, New England Fishery Management Council Scientific and Statistical Committee (2008-present)
• Member, Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission Habitat Committee (2007-present)
• Post-doctoral fellow, University of Windsor, Ontario (2001-2004)
• Ph.D., Marine Biology, James Cook University, Australia (2001)
• B.A., Biology, Middlebury College, Vermont (1995)

Publications

Jake is the author of several scientific papers, as well as senior editor of the book Marine Metapopulations.