KINGSTON, R.I. – Oct. 20, 2025 – Last month, a Rhode Island team of experts traveled to Indonesia to collaborate with representatives from Southeast Asian countries on sustainable fishery management. University of Rhode Island professor Michael A. Rice; Jason McNamee, Ph.D. ’18, deputy director of the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM); and Maria Rice ’08, a legal expert in marine policy and lawyer with Rhode Island DEM, provided key expertise on data-sharing and science-based policies at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.

Organized by the Indonesian Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries in collaboration with Haluoleo University, the APEC forum focused on the regional management of small pelagic fish—different species of fish that migrate across national boundaries and are currently under-managed compared to high-profile species like tuna. The goal was to boost international coordination by creating digital data-sharing systems, as a first step toward regional cooperation. 

Wa Iba, Ph.D. ’16, a former graduate student of Rice’s who is now a professor in Indonesia, played a central role in organizing the APEC forum and invited the Rhode Island-based team—the only representation from the United States—to participate in the summit.

Rice delivered the keynote address, framing the biological context of migratory fishes. As chair of URI’s Department of Fisheries, Animal and Veterinary Sciences, Rice has led a prolific career conducting fisheries research, advising local and international government agencies, and teaching about aquaculture both in Rhode Island and in Southeast Asia. “When Professor Iba asked me to participate in this forum,” he says, “I recognized immediately the need for data sharing among Southeast Asian nations is identical to the data sharing put into place by the Atlantic States, the U.S. federal government, the Canadian Atlantic Provinces, and the Canada Ministry of Fisheries and Oceans, and that a similar cooperative framework could be developed for their region.”

McNamee led a session on stock assessment and data-sharing, using the U.S. East Coast menhaden fishery as a case study. He showed how multiple jurisdictions successfully manage this shared resource through coordination and digital data systems, demonstrating how complex systems of governance and interstate coordination can work. These models, like adaptive ecosystem-based management, were presented as possible models for Southeast Asian countries developing their own regional frameworks.  

“It was such a great experience to offer examples from the East Coast of the U.S. that I thought they might find interesting and relevant, but I was also impressed by how far along some of the nations were in developing their own systems,” says McNamee. “In particular, both Chile and Indonesia are either working on or already have robust and progressive systems to better manage their data streams.”

Maria Rice, Esq., presented on international legal frameworks, governance structures, and led a workshop on women in fisheries. A graduate of URI’s environmental and natural resource economics program, she has a background in international and environmental law and now advises DEM on marine fisheries and environmental regulations.

“Our participation in the APEC workshop reflected the strong partnership between the University of Rhode Island and the Department of Environmental Management in advancing sustainable fisheries management,” Maria Rice says. “Rhode Island’s experience shows how science, law, and community engagement can work together to build resilient ecosystems and coastal economies. It was inspiring to connect those lessons with the broader APEC community.”

The team’s multidisciplinary approach—covering practical applications of biology, data science, and law—helped guide the Southeast Asian nations in building cooperative frameworks focused on standardized data sharing and science-driven policies for sustainable fishery management.

Fisheries officials and academics from across the APEC region attended, including Australia, Brunei, Chile, China, Indonesia, Peru, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, and Vietnam, as well as a diplomat from the Russian Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia. A report on the workshop can be viewed here.

This story was written by Anna Gray in the College of the Environment and Life Sciences.