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Christopher McGuire

Ocean Program Director, Massachusetts

Boston, MA

Christopher McGuire headshot.

Chris McGuire Chris McGuire is the ocean program director for TNC in Massachusetts. © Ayla Fox

Areas of Expertise

Sustainable fisheries management, marine conservation, state and federal policy, renewable energy

Media Contact

Tina McCarthy
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Biography

Chris McGuire is the Ocean Program Director for The Nature Conservancy in Massachusetts. He shapes marine priorities at the state level while harnessing the Conservancy's global experience and scientific expertise to develop innovative conservation solutions. Chris is focused on conserving Massachusetts' critical marine and coastal systems by developing market incentives to encourage more sustainable fishing through partnerships with commercial fishermen; advancing conservation positive ocean planning efforts; and using natural solutions to reduce the risks of climate change.

Chris leads monitoring projects in the New England groundfish fishery, and has been the principal investigator on collaborative research projects focused on iconic New England species like Atlantic cod and halibut. Chris serves on state, regional and federal advisory committees and working groups, and regularly presents his work at national and international workshops and conferences. 

As a child, he spent many rainy childhood days at the Nantucket Whaling Museum, learning about the industry that led to one of the first species population crashes due to overfishing. Now Chris is working with New England fishermen and innovative technology to help return fish stocks to sustainable levels.

Before joining the Conservancy in 2011 he was a faculty member and Captain aboard oceanographic research vessels at Sea Education Association for more than a decade. Chris has a B.A. from Connecticut College, holds a 1600 Ton USCG Ocean Master’s License, and earned a Master of Marine Affairs from the University of Rhode Island.

When not pursuing marine conservation initiatives Chris can often be found out on the waters around Woods Hole or working on home improvement projects with his kids.

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Sustainable Fisheries Research

Read Chris McGuire's recent published papers and research.

  • An older man and his son in bright yellow jackets hold a halibut between them, which spans the width of both their chests.

    Evaluating growth dimorphism, maturation, and skip spawning of halibut

    Journal of Northwest Atlantic Fishery Science | Oct 17, 2022

    To better evaluate whether Atlantic halibut populations are rebuilding, researchers worked with fishermen to sample over 200 fish, determining that halibut may not reach full maturity until they are older and larger than was previously thought. Read More About This Collaborative Research

  • A graph overlaid on a map showing tracked halibut in the Gulf of Maine

    Spatial Ecology of the Atlantic Halibut across the Northwest Atlantic

    Fisheries Science & Aquaculture | Jul 22, 2021

    Halibut are a recovering species in an era of climate change. The spatial ecology of Atlantic halibut, managed as four stocks in the Northwest Atlantic, is reviewed in this research. Read More

  • A 42-inch halibut with a satellite tag about to be released from a Cape Cod fishing boat.

    Movements of Atlantic halibut in the Gulf of Maine based on geolocation

    ICES Journal of Marine Science | Sep 17, 2019

    Atlantic halibut are a “Species of Concern” in U.S. waters and little is known about their movements and stock structure. Research into these aspects of their population is critical information for assessing and managing this stock. Read More

  • Chris McGuire, marine program director in Massachusetts, with a device that is deployed to pick up data from tracking tags placed on cod, as part of a research study.

    Identifying the distribution of Atlantic cod spawning

    ICES Journal of Marine Science | Apr 21, 2019

    Effective fishery management requires reliable information on fish spawning. In order to rebuild the Gulf of Maine stock of Atlantic cod, studies like this aim to identify the spatial and temporal distribution of cod spawning in Massachusetts Bay. Read More

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Deep on Oyster Aquaculture and Restoration","description":"To safeguard the health of coastal environments, TNC is both restoring natural shellfish reefs and working directly with shellfish farmers.","link":"https://dev.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/united-states/massachusetts/stories-in-massachusetts/aquaculture-oyster-restoration/","target":"_self","desktopImageCrop":"center-middle","mobileImageCrop":"center-middle","pageImageAlt":"A close up of a pile of brown and white striped oyster shells.","articleDate":"Aug 14, 2019","contentTypeTag":"Feature","geoLocationTag":["Massachusetts","United States"],"topicTag":["ocean conservation","conservation work","oyster restoration","habitat restoration","aquaculture","sustainable fisheries","fisheries","economy and environment","oyster reefs","aquaculture"],"placesWeProtectTag":[],"businesstags":["Massachusetts","United 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Technology and Commercial Fishing in New England","description":"Electronic monitoring provides fishermen more flexibility and managers with better data for making sound fisheries management decisions. ","link":"https://dev.nature.org/en-us/what-we-do/our-priorities/provide-food-and-water-sustainably/food-and-water-stories/video-technology-and-commercial-fishing-in-new-england/","target":"_self","desktopImageCrop":"left-top","mobileImageCrop":"left-top","pageImageAlt":"Christopher Brown, who captains the Proud Mary based out of Rhode Island, sorts fish as electronic monitoring cameras are visible behind him.","articleDate":"Jan 04, 2019","contentTypeTag":"Feature","geoLocationTag":["Massachusetts","United States","Rhode Island","Maine"],"topicTag":["fisheries","conservation work","sustainable fisheries","data-limited fisheries"],"placesWeProtectTag":[],"businesstags":["Provide Food and Water Sustainability","Our Priorities"],"businesstags_ids":["tnc:business-group/our-priorities/provide-food-water-sustainability","tnc:business-group/our-priorities"],"pageImage":{"small":"https://natureconservancystage-h.assetsadobe.com/is/image/content/dam/tnc/nature/en/photos/e/m/EMFish.0126.TNC_AylaFox.jpg?crop=0%2C0%2C3556%2C2667&wid=300&hei=225&scl=11.853333333333333","default":"https://natureconservancystage-h.assetsadobe.com/is/image/content/dam/tnc/nature/en/photos/e/m/EMFish.0126.TNC_AylaFox.jpg?crop=0%2C0%2C3556%2C2667&wid=300&hei=225&scl=11.853333333333333","medium2x":"https://natureconservancystage-h.assetsadobe.com/is/image/content/dam/tnc/nature/en/photos/e/m/EMFish.0126.TNC_AylaFox.jpg?crop=0%2C0%2C3556%2C2667&wid=800&hei=600&scl=4.445","large":"https://natureconservancystage-h.assetsadobe.com/is/image/content/dam/tnc/nature/en/photos/e/m/EMFish.0126.TNC_AylaFox.jpg?crop=0%2C0%2C3556%2C2667&wid=800&hei=600&scl=4.445","small2x":"https://natureconservancystage-h.assetsadobe.com/is/image/content/dam/tnc/nature/en/photos/e/m/EMFish.0126.TNC_AylaFox.jpg?crop=0%2C0%2C3556%2C2667&wid=600&hei=450&scl=5.926666666666667","medium":"https://natureconservancystage-h.assetsadobe.com/is/image/content/dam/tnc/nature/en/photos/e/m/EMFish.0126.TNC_AylaFox.jpg?crop=0%2C0%2C3556%2C2667&wid=800&hei=600&scl=4.445","large2x":"https://natureconservancystage-h.assetsadobe.com/is/image/content/dam/tnc/nature/en/photos/e/m/EMFish.0126.TNC_AylaFox.jpg?crop=0%2C0%2C3556%2C2667&wid=1600&hei=1200&scl=2.2225"}},{"title":"Uniting For Shellfish","description":"This year, the Conservancy began collaborating with The Massachusetts Aquaculture Association and the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance to develop the Massachusetts Shellfish Initiative (MSI).","link":"https://dev.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/united-states/massachusetts/stories-in-massachusetts/uniting-for-shellfish/","target":"_self","desktopImageCrop":"center-middle","mobileImageCrop":"center-middle","pageImageAlt":"in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts.","articleDate":null,"contentTypeTag":"Partnerships","geoLocationTag":["Massachusetts","United States"],"topicTag":["aquaculture","sustainable fisheries","fisheries","conservation work"],"placesWeProtectTag":[],"businesstags":["Massachusetts","United States"],"businesstags_ids":["tnc:business-group/united-states/massachusetts","tnc:business-group/united-states"],"pageImage":{"small":"https://natureconservancystage-h.assetsadobe.com/is/image/content/dam/tnc/nature/en/photos/o/w/Owens-tnc-Scallops-06022016-LARGE-13_4000x2200.jpg?crop=533%2C0%2C2933%2C2200&wid=300&hei=225&scl=9.777777777777779","default":"https://natureconservancystage-h.assetsadobe.com/is/image/content/dam/tnc/nature/en/photos/o/w/Owens-tnc-Scallops-06022016-LARGE-13_4000x2200.jpg?crop=533%2C0%2C2933%2C2200&wid=300&hei=225&scl=9.777777777777779","medium2x":"https://natureconservancystage-h.assetsadobe.com/is/image/content/dam/tnc/nature/en/photos/o/w/Owens-tnc-Scallops-06022016-LARGE-13_4000x2200.jpg?crop=533%2C0%2C2933%2C2200&wid=800&hei=600&scl=3.6666666666666665","large":"https://natureconservancystage-h.assetsadobe.com/is/image/content/dam/tnc/nature/en/photos/o/w/Owens-tnc-Scallops-06022016-LARGE-13_4000x2200.jpg?crop=533%2C0%2C2933%2C2200&wid=800&hei=600&scl=3.6666666666666665","small2x":"https://natureconservancystage-h.assetsadobe.com/is/image/content/dam/tnc/nature/en/photos/o/w/Owens-tnc-Scallops-06022016-LARGE-13_4000x2200.jpg?crop=533%2C0%2C2933%2C2200&wid=600&hei=450&scl=4.888888888888889","medium":"https://natureconservancystage-h.assetsadobe.com/is/image/content/dam/tnc/nature/en/photos/o/w/Owens-tnc-Scallops-06022016-LARGE-13_4000x2200.jpg?crop=533%2C0%2C2933%2C2200&wid=800&hei=600&scl=3.6666666666666665","large2x":"https://natureconservancystage-h.assetsadobe.com/is/image/content/dam/tnc/nature/en/photos/o/w/Owens-tnc-Scallops-06022016-LARGE-13_4000x2200.jpg?crop=533%2C0%2C2933%2C2200&wid=1600&hei=1200&scl=1.8333333333333333"}}]
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