To loosely paraphrase the philosopher Thomas Carlyle, a fishery climate-resilience planning effort without goals is like a ship without a rudder. After setting the stage for the planning effort in Step 1 by defining the system bounds, Step 2 helps to bound where the planning effort should go. Goals defined in Step 2 are the rudder that helps direct the planning and implementation of climate-resilience actions.

In this step, the groundwork is put in place for Steps 3 through 6 by helping to clarify what people value about the fishery and what they want the fishery to be like in the future. In collaborative planning efforts that involve people with diverse perspectives, collectively defining goals is especially important to ensure that discussions and decisions reflect everyone’s values and visions. With the context defined in Step 1, Step 2 focuses on the determination of what is valued and important in the fishery system. Consider not just economic values that can be quantified monetarily, but also less tangible values such as ecological, social and spiritual benefits. The worksheet in Step 2 provides a place to brainstorm and prioritize fishery goals. The S.M.A.R.T. Goals framework can be used to further develop goals that are specific, measurable, assignable, realistic, and time-related.

Climate change can pose direct or indirect impediments to achieving these goals. For example, increasing storm severity may damage habitats that support fish populations, and ocean warming may cause local declines in a valuable fish species, which may lead to supply chain disruptions that negatively affect the fishing community. In this context, building climate resilience can help achieve both social and ecological goals.