Habitat Recovery Project Partners with The Water Institute’s Community Resilience Center to Launch Fisher-Led Monitoring Program in the Lower Calcasieu River Basin

Cameron, Louisiana — 6 October, 2025 — Habitat Recovery Project (HRP) is proud to announce a partnership with the Community Resilience Center at The Water Institute (CRC) to launch a new monitoring program grounded in both local knowledge and rigorous science to strengthen resilience in the Lower Calcasieu River Basin.

By embedding fisher knowledge into a scientifically robust framework, the project aims to track environmental stressors affecting shrimp and oyster fisheries and foster practices that sustain both livelihoods and ecosystems.

“Fisherfolk have always been on the frontlines of change in our coastal ecosystems,” said Alyssa Portaro. “This partnership ensures their insights, combined with science and data, will help sustain shrimp and oyster fisheries for generations to come.”

The program, Developing Community-Based Scientific Monitoring to Assess Fishery Stressors in the Lower Calcasieu River Basin, will be codeveloped by HRP’s Fisher Family Advisory Council for Tradition and Stewardship (FACTS) and CRC as part of the Community Resilience Catalyst program, established to support communities by removing financial and administrative barriers, allowing them to focus on advancing their resilience goals.

“This project is about more than a single year of research,” said Renee Collini, Director of the Community Resilience Center at The Water Institute. “We are proud to work side by side with fisherfolk and community members to combine local knowledge with science. The result will be a trusted, community-driven monitoring system that informs decisions and strengthens long-term resilience.”

The first phase of the project will map and assess existing monitoring programs, identify priority areas of concern, and gather local knowledge critical to the region’s fisheries. The second phase will establish a fisher-led monitoring program, including necessary training, equipment, and other foundational tools to ensure a durable and community-owned effort.