This document discusses the risks and vulnerabilities of fisheries and aquaculture to climate change, and ways to build resilience. Over 500 million livelihoods depend on fisheries and aquatic foods provide nutrition for 4 billion people. Climate change is causing impacts like changes in ocean currents and acidification that affect production, ecology, and communities. Examples of adaptation include diversifying livelihoods, flexible management policies, and risk reduction. Mitigation opportunities include carbon storage in oceans, renewable energy from oceans, and reducing emissions from aquatic food systems and transport. The document provides an overview of climate impacts and outlines both adaptation and mitigation approaches for building resilience in fisheries and aquaculture.

1. Building resilience & reducing vulnerabilities to
climate change in the fisheries and aquaculture
sector
Cassandra De Young
Fisheries and Aquaculture Department
FAO

2. Outline
1. What is at stake?
2. How can we respond?
3. What are risks and vulnerabilities?
4. Examples of adaptation and mitigation in FI&AQ

3.  Over 500 million people depend –
directly or indirectly – on fisheries and
aquaculture for their livelihoods
 Aquatic foods provide essential
nutrition for 4 billion people and at
least 50% of animal protein and
minerals to 400 million people in the
poorest countries.
Fish products are among the most
widely-traded foods, with more than
37% by volume of world production
traded internationally.
1. What is at stake?

5. Biophysical changes
from GHG
accumulations
Ocean currents
ENSO
Sea level rise
Rainfall
River flows
Lake levels
Thermal structure
Storm Severity
Storm frequency
Acidification
Effects on:
Production
Ecology
Fishing &
Aquaculture
operations
Communities
Livelihoods
Wider society &
Economy
Impacts on:
Species composition
Production & yield
Distribution
Diseases
Coral bleaching
Calcification
Safety & efficiency
Infrastructure
Loss/damage to assets
Risk to health & life
Displacement & conflict
Adaptation & mitigation costs
Market impacts
Water allocation
CC impacts on fisheries and aquaculture
Badjeck et al, 2010

6. Predicted effects on fisheries’ catch potential
Cheung et al. 2010

7. Economic costs to fisheries
The costs of inaction
SEI 2012
Australia - net economic
effect on fisheries due to
climate change for the year
2030
Norman-Lopez et al 2011

8. Climate change impacts on fisheries in West Africa:
implications for economic, food and nutritional
security
2050 versus 2000
Lam et al 2012

9. Understanding vulnerabilities: applied fisheries
example
Global mapping of national economies’ vulnerability to climate
change impacts on fisheries
Allison et al, 2009

10. Understanding Vulnerabilities: Evolving the IPCC
model
Cinner et al (2013)

11. Understanding Vulnerabilities of fisheries-depending
communities
Cinner et al (2013)
Plot of the vulnerability of coastal communities to the impacts of coral bleaching on fisheries

12. 3. What can be done?

13. Preparing and responding to the impacts: adaptation to climate
change through broader vulnerability reduction
• Ecological, Economic and Social
Resilience
– implementation of ecosystem approach to
fisheries and aquaculture, the Code of
Conduct for Responsible Fisheries
– livelihood diversification, flexible access
rights, public and private insurance
• Technological innovation
• Planned adaptation –policy coherence
across sectors (water, agriculture,
forestry, CZM, DRR/DRM)

14. A few FI&AQ adaptation examples
• Diverse and flexible livelihood strategies
– Diversification of patterns of fishing/fish farming activities with respect to
the species exploited, location of fishing grounds/farms and gear used
– Changes in post-harvest techniques/practices
– Switching between rice-farming, tree-crop farming and fishing in response to
seasonal and inter-annual variations in fish availability
– Migrating along the coast or between islands
– Integrated agriculture (e.g. rice-fish)
– Selected strands of species in aquaculture
– Investing in aquaculture (e.g. mud crab, seaweed, cage)
– Culture-based capture (stocking of aquatic systems)

15. • Flexible and adaptable institutions
– Incorporating uncertainty into fisheries management
– Incorporating CC into policies, investments and development plans
– Allowing for flexible temporal and spatial planning to permit stock
recovery during favorable climatic periods
– Permitting flexible redistribution of fishing rights among
neighboring municipalities, according to needs and surpluses
– Applying transboundary stock management that takes into account
changes in distribution
– Implementing flexible co-management frameworks including
participatory information systems

16. • Risk reduction initiatives
– Reinforcing natural bariers, such as sand dunes, mangroves and
coral reefs, to dampen wave or storm damage
– Reinforcing cage and ponds
– Cage and pond siting to minimize environmental risks
– Integrating DRM into fisheries and aquaculture
– Using portable telephones to share weather related information as
part of an early warning system
– Improving saftey at sea and coast programs for small-scale fishers
and transformers
– Insurance – private, social, social-private
– Improving post-harvest processes and infrastructure to minimize
losses

17. Mitigation - Oceans, aquatic ecosystems
Removing emissions:
 Carbon capture and storage (sea beds, phytoplankton, and blue carbon) – BIG NUMBERS
93% carbon storage and 30% sequestration
Halt the disruption of carbon sequestration in aquatic ecosystems by, e.g., habitat
destruction
Implement mangroves and floodplain forests in REDD+ and develop blue carbon funds
Avoiding or displacing emissions:
 Renewable energy potential – tides, currents, waves, wind, hydropower, aquatic biofuels
(algae, fish oil)
Reducing emissions:
 Emissions reductions from aquatic food production systems and maritime transport (feed
and fuel hotspots in primary production, fuel use and waste/loss in post-harvest)

18. Thank you!
Join us for the
Global FishAdapt Adaptation on the Ground Conference,
8-10 August 2016
Bangkok, Thailand
www.fishadapt.com