Climate change strategies: Pacific Fisheries and Aquaculture

1. Climate Change Adaptation Strategies:
Pacific Fisheries & Aquaculture
Mele Ikatonga Tauati
Junior Professional Officer (Small-scale Fisheries)
FAO Sub-regional Office for the Pacific Islands
UNFCCC LEG Regional Training Workshop on National Adaptation Plans for the Pacific Region
10-13 July 2017
Novotel Nadi, Fiji

2. The Pacific: “large oceanic states”

3. Importance of fisheries & aquaculture
in the Pacific
• Food security
• Livelihoods
• Economic development
• Government revenue
• Cultural and traditional values
Source: Bob Gillett
Source: Samoa Fisheries

4. 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
Badjeck et al, 2010
Vulnerability of fisheries and aquaculture

5. • Projections from Bell et al 2011:
• Tuna moving to Eastern Pacific
• Decline in coastal fisheries production
• Favourable for freshwater aquaculture
Vulnerability of fisheries and aquaculture
in the Pacific

6. What can be done?

7. 7
FAO Adapt

8. FAO – Fisheries & Aquaculture resources
• Assessing climate change
vulnerability in fisheries and
aquaculture
• Available methodologies and their
relevance for the sector
• Climate change adaptation in
fisheries and aquaculture
• Compilation of initial examples from
around the world
• Priority adaptations to climate
change for Pacific fisheries and
aquaculture
• Reducing risks and capitalizing on
opportunities

9. FAO NAP Guidelines for fisheries & aquaculture
• Addressing agriculture, forestry and fisheries
• Draft guidelines for fisheries and aquaculture
Objectives:
• Assist fisheries and aquaculture institutions to map their
knowledge into the climate change world and language and
articulate their needs;
• Ensure that the visibility and specificities of fisheries and
aquaculture are captured in the process to formulate and
implement NAP;
• Support the mainstreaming of fisheries and aquaculture in
the NAP implementation; and
• More broadly, support adaptation planning within fisheries
and aquaculture.

10. Adaptation Examples from the Pacific
• Livelihood strategies
• Diversifying patterns of fishing/fish farming activities
• Shifting effort to nearshore Fishing Aggregating Devices (FADs)
• Impact evaluation of nearshore FADs
Source: Samoa FisheriesSource: Samoa Fisheries

11. Livelihood strategies
• Changes in post-harvest techniques/practices
• Improved post-harvest techniques to reduce waste and
allow for longer shelf-life / storage options (FSM)
• Improved solar driers with management committees
(Kiribati outer islands)
• Request to improve fish drying/smoking techniques
(Tonga outer islands)
• Investing in aquaculture (e.g. tilapia, mud crab,
seaweed)
Adaptation Examples from the Pacific
Source: Nimrod Blog
Source: Samoa Fisheries

12. • Flexible and adaptable institutions
• Incorporating CC into policies, investments and development plans
• Fisheries Management: Fiji Fisheries Policy, such as:
• managing fisheries (e.g. # licenses, gear type) to ensure stocks are at levels that
promote ecosystem resilience
• monitoring CC effects on marine environment (e.g. coral bleaching, finfish
diversity, sea water temperature)
• Implementing co-management arrangements, including
participatory information systems
• Strengthening fisheries community-based/co-management arrangements
• Samoa’s Community-based Fisheries Management (CBFM) programme
• Tonga’s Special Management Area (SMA) programme
• Supporting ecosystem-based fisheries management approaches

13. • Risk reduction initiatives
• Integrating DRM into fisheries and aquaculture
• Engaging Fisheries Agencies in DRR planning, strategies, PDNA (e.g. Samoa, Fiji)
• Improving safety at sea
• Training in post-disaster situations (e.g. boat & engine repair, maintenance)
• Safety at sea initiatives (improved information for fishers, phone apps for
emergency services; early warning system)
• Reinforcing natural bariers such as coral reefs and mangroves
• Managing fishing areas e.g. Samoa CBFM fish reserves (no-take zones), Tonga
SMAs
• Replanting mangroves
• Prohibiting sand-mining
• Collecting crown-of-thorns starfish (COTs) during outbreaks
Adaptation Examples from the Pacific
Source: Bob Gillett

14. • FAO is working to support countries in climate change and NAPs, with
strong comparative advantage for work in agriculture, forestry and
fisheries
• FAO Climate Change Focal Points:
• HQ: Climate and Environment Division (CBC)
• Pacific: Multi-disciplinary team (fisheries, agriculture, forestry, climate
change/GCF/GEF)
www.fao.org

15. Thank you!