Mental Health Resources for Fishers

While there is a plethora of mental health resources and expertise available in Gulf Coast communities and a growing network of “resiliency” expertise in the region, many assume that there are resources that specifically target highly vulnerable ones such as local fisheries-based communities. However, there is a clearly defined need to address this important issue.

Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium (MASGC) has an extensive history of addressing community resilience. This has been achieved through developing and implementing four resilience indices (with an additional one in production), supporting human health focused workshops with diverse communities, and developing science-based resources that address this topic. In addition, the program led the development of Sea Grant’s Gulf of Mexico Peer Listening program that was later revised to address COVID impacts. 

In order to address mental health concerns facing local fishing communities MASGC will build on its work in the coastal resilience domain by: 

• Partnering with commercial and for-hire fisheries networks to identify resource needs and later sharing final product(s) for broad distribution.
• Identifying key, local mental health experts that would be willing to partner on this effort.
• Reviewing the literature on the topic to identify fisheries-related mental health resources.
• Creating a list of questions/statements that can assist members of fishing communities learn more about their mental health situation.
• Developing a list of resources that are locally and regionally available as well as online resources.
• Authoring a guide that addresses the above topics and undergoes a technical review by mental health officials and fishing industry leaders.
• Distributing the resources broadly throughout local fish communities.