Partnership Operations

Current operations:

• DFP Coordinator 

• DFP Project Development Specialist

• Partner organizations’ participation in monthly planning and decision making meetings related to DFP work

Collaborative Positions

Currently, partners utilize a shared position model, where multiple member organizations share a position to enhance capacity for a common goal. Through these shared positions we hope to engage with coastal communities and provide support for resilience initiatives and efforts in the Downeast region.

Current collaborative positions: 

Sea-Run Fisheries Monitoring Coordinator, a collaborative position for the GOM River Herring Network

Convenings 

Since DFP’s founding in 2013, DFP has initiated conversations about fisheries with a broad range of community partners and interested individuals. Our strength and capacity lie within our partner organizations and our ability to work in collaboration. Our convenings bring together key community partners to work towards inclusive, regional and co-management approaches. This approach is important to effectively manage valuable fisheries resources, especially during a time of climate threats, coastal vulnerability and unprecedented change. 

Previous Covenings:

• 2016 Taking Fisheries to School: Workshop Report
• 2019 Up And Up: River Herring in Eastern Maine 

We are in the process of developing and coordinating a 2025 DFP convening.

Collaborative Education and Outreach Initiatives and Projects 

Our work to restore Downeast rivers, fish populations, and sustainable fisheries is ultimately motivated by a desire to help our communities thrive in the face of challenges through a series of projects and programs.

Current initiatives and projects: 

• Reconnecting Downeast Maine’s Watersheds and Communities is our current collaborative watershed education project funded through NOAA’s BWET program from 2023-2025. 
• Building Capacity and Climate Resilience for Underserved Communities in Downeast Maine is our current collaborative initiative to address climate challenges and expand our partnership work to address holistic, collaborative climate resilience planning in our coastal communities and at a watershed scale to enhance resilience of our fisheries-dependent coastal communities.