The coastal waters in south-west Western Australia sit in a global ‘marine hotspot’. The region experienced an extreme ‘marine heatwave’ in 2011 with significant impacts to marine flora, fauna and commercial fisheries. We used transdisciplinary approaches to investigate whether two communities whose livelihoods and knowledge are intrinsically linked to the marine environment, rank climate change as an important priority. The Abrolhos Islands are home to a thriving seasonal fishing community and valuable rock lobster fishery. After a cascade of environmental, social and economic changes, and following a co-designed exhibition using fishers’ photographs, we examined if fishers’ views about climate change had altered. Shark Bay supports a valuable multispecies fishing industry, an iconic tourist destination and World Heritage Property. The community were knowledgeable about the effects of a marine heatwave and to understand and prioritise what knowledge is needed to manage environmental issues and sustain futures, we canvassed a range of stakeholders including community, researchers, managers and Indigenous Malgana people. By aligning community knowledge needs and science priorities, we look at opportunities to ensure coastal communities are cognisant of climate change, can adapt their business decisions to sustain future livelihoods, while providing government decision makers justification for focused research investment.