fishzoo
04-12-2010, 06:49 PM
Climate Change Challenges
Facing Fisheries and Aquaculture
Climate change poses new challenges to the sustainability of fisheries and aquaculture systems, with serious implications for the 520 million people who depend on them for their livelihoods and the nearly 3 billion people for whom fish is an important source of animal protein, says the World Fish Centre.
To help meet these challenges, climate change research at the WorldFish Center aims to work with partners to focus climate change responses where they are most needed by assessing and mapping the vulnerability of fishery- and aquaculture-dependent people and regions to the impacts of climate change; reduce people’s vulnerability to these impacts by identifying appropriate adaptation strategies; contribute to climate change mitigation by identifying ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and sequester carbon in aquatic production systems; and build local, national and regional capacity to implement adaptation and mitigation strategies for fisheries and aquaculture by informing policy processes.
The Climate Change Challenge
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change projects that atmospheric temperatures will rise by 1.8-4.0°C globally by 2100 (IPCC 2007). This warming will be accompanied by rising sea temperatures, changing sea levels, increasing ocean acidification, altered rainfall patterns and river flows, and higher incidence of extreme weather events.
The productivity, distribution and seasonality of fisheries, and the quality and availability of the habitats that support them, are sensitive to these climate change effects. In addition, many fishery-dependent communities and aquaculture operations are in regions highly exposed to climate change. Researchers and policymakers now recognize that the climate change impacts on coastal and riparian environments, and on the fisheries they support, will bring new challenges to these systems and to the people who depend on them. Coping with these challenges will require adaptation measures planned at multiple scales.
Climate change stresses will compound existing pressure on fisheries and aquaculture and threaten their capacity to provide food and livelihoods. Worldwide, fish products provide 15% or more of the protein consumed by nearly 3 billion people and support the livelihoods of 520 million people, many of them women (FAO 2009, WorldFish Center 2008).
Many capture fisheries worldwide have declined sharply in recent decades or have already collapsed from overfishing, and major fishing grounds are concentrated in zones threatened by pollution, the mismanagement of freshwater, and habitat and coastal zone modification. Aquaculture needs to expand sustainably to fill supply shortfalls as demand for fish for human consumption continues to rise — but, even more than fisheries, aquaculture is concentrated in areas with intense competition for environmental services.
Sustaining fisheries in the face of these challenges, and ensuring that they contribute to development as effectively as possible, will be more difficult as the climate changes. Similarly, realizing the potential of aquaculture will require careful attention to climate change impacts and the constraints and opportunities they bring.
Understanding these linkages between climate change, livelihoods and food security is critical for designing policies and management strategies for fisheries and aquaculture in the communities, nations and regions that depend on them. Doing so effectively will require sustained investment in research that informs policy, resource management and development.
Key research questions and work being pursued by the WorldFish Center to address them is summarized below in four areas: (1) diagnosing vulnerability to climate change, (2) understanding current coping mechanisms and adaptive responses, (3) contributing to mitigation, and (4) building the capacity to respond and adapt.
Diagnosing Vulnerability to Climate Change
The vulnerability of fishery- and aquaculture-dependent communities and regions to climate change is complex, reflecting a combination of three key factors: the exposure of a particular system to climate change, the degree of sensitivity to climate impacts, and the adaptive capacity of the group or society experiencing those impacts. Vulnerability varies greatly across production systems, households, communities, nations and regions.
It is influenced by changing demographics, the degree of market globalization and emerging agricultural development policy. Poor and marginalized groups, including women, are likely to be the most vulnerable because climate change will likely exacerbate the unequal access to natural resources, productive assets, information and technology that already exists.
Developing policies and strategies to address climate change impacts on fisheries and aquaculture depends on identifying vulnerable places and people and understanding what drives their vulnerability. This requires vulnerability assessment at multiple scales and taking into account multiple interacting drivers. Key questions that need to be addressed include the following:
1.1 What is the nature and extent of vulnerability among fishery- and aquaculture-dependent communities and regions to specific climate-related threats?
1.2 How do other drivers of change influence vulnerability to climate change?
outputs of research to answer these questions will be vulnerability maps that identify ‘hotspots’ and most affected people. These maps can be used to guide investments in adaptation. Understanding climate vulnerability in the context of other drivers helps to prioritize climate-related actions and inform programs to mainstream climate change responses in other development policy and planning activities.
Two thirds of the nations most vulnerable to climate change are in Africa, where fish provides more than half of the animal protein consumed in some countries. Inland and coastal waters are highly sensitive to climatic variation, and adaptive capacity is low.
Conclusion
Climate change is inevitably a challenge for fisheries and aquaculture. Through rigorous research on impacts, mitigation and adaptation — combined with practical actions locally, nationally, regionally and globally — WorldFish aims to provide new knowledge to inform solutions.
High-quality research that involves resource users, builds strong partnerships and harnesses political will is crucial for making fisheries and aquaculture systems more resilient to the challenge of global climate change and securing a bright future for the people that depend upon them.
July 2009
رابط المقال كاملا بالانجليزية :
http://www.thefishsite.com/articles/...nd-aquaculture
Facing Fisheries and Aquaculture
Climate change poses new challenges to the sustainability of fisheries and aquaculture systems, with serious implications for the 520 million people who depend on them for their livelihoods and the nearly 3 billion people for whom fish is an important source of animal protein, says the World Fish Centre.
To help meet these challenges, climate change research at the WorldFish Center aims to work with partners to focus climate change responses where they are most needed by assessing and mapping the vulnerability of fishery- and aquaculture-dependent people and regions to the impacts of climate change; reduce people’s vulnerability to these impacts by identifying appropriate adaptation strategies; contribute to climate change mitigation by identifying ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and sequester carbon in aquatic production systems; and build local, national and regional capacity to implement adaptation and mitigation strategies for fisheries and aquaculture by informing policy processes.
The Climate Change Challenge
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change projects that atmospheric temperatures will rise by 1.8-4.0°C globally by 2100 (IPCC 2007). This warming will be accompanied by rising sea temperatures, changing sea levels, increasing ocean acidification, altered rainfall patterns and river flows, and higher incidence of extreme weather events.
The productivity, distribution and seasonality of fisheries, and the quality and availability of the habitats that support them, are sensitive to these climate change effects. In addition, many fishery-dependent communities and aquaculture operations are in regions highly exposed to climate change. Researchers and policymakers now recognize that the climate change impacts on coastal and riparian environments, and on the fisheries they support, will bring new challenges to these systems and to the people who depend on them. Coping with these challenges will require adaptation measures planned at multiple scales.
Climate change stresses will compound existing pressure on fisheries and aquaculture and threaten their capacity to provide food and livelihoods. Worldwide, fish products provide 15% or more of the protein consumed by nearly 3 billion people and support the livelihoods of 520 million people, many of them women (FAO 2009, WorldFish Center 2008).
Many capture fisheries worldwide have declined sharply in recent decades or have already collapsed from overfishing, and major fishing grounds are concentrated in zones threatened by pollution, the mismanagement of freshwater, and habitat and coastal zone modification. Aquaculture needs to expand sustainably to fill supply shortfalls as demand for fish for human consumption continues to rise — but, even more than fisheries, aquaculture is concentrated in areas with intense competition for environmental services.
Sustaining fisheries in the face of these challenges, and ensuring that they contribute to development as effectively as possible, will be more difficult as the climate changes. Similarly, realizing the potential of aquaculture will require careful attention to climate change impacts and the constraints and opportunities they bring.
Understanding these linkages between climate change, livelihoods and food security is critical for designing policies and management strategies for fisheries and aquaculture in the communities, nations and regions that depend on them. Doing so effectively will require sustained investment in research that informs policy, resource management and development.
Key research questions and work being pursued by the WorldFish Center to address them is summarized below in four areas: (1) diagnosing vulnerability to climate change, (2) understanding current coping mechanisms and adaptive responses, (3) contributing to mitigation, and (4) building the capacity to respond and adapt.
Diagnosing Vulnerability to Climate Change
The vulnerability of fishery- and aquaculture-dependent communities and regions to climate change is complex, reflecting a combination of three key factors: the exposure of a particular system to climate change, the degree of sensitivity to climate impacts, and the adaptive capacity of the group or society experiencing those impacts. Vulnerability varies greatly across production systems, households, communities, nations and regions.
It is influenced by changing demographics, the degree of market globalization and emerging agricultural development policy. Poor and marginalized groups, including women, are likely to be the most vulnerable because climate change will likely exacerbate the unequal access to natural resources, productive assets, information and technology that already exists.
Developing policies and strategies to address climate change impacts on fisheries and aquaculture depends on identifying vulnerable places and people and understanding what drives their vulnerability. This requires vulnerability assessment at multiple scales and taking into account multiple interacting drivers. Key questions that need to be addressed include the following:
1.1 What is the nature and extent of vulnerability among fishery- and aquaculture-dependent communities and regions to specific climate-related threats?
1.2 How do other drivers of change influence vulnerability to climate change?
outputs of research to answer these questions will be vulnerability maps that identify ‘hotspots’ and most affected people. These maps can be used to guide investments in adaptation. Understanding climate vulnerability in the context of other drivers helps to prioritize climate-related actions and inform programs to mainstream climate change responses in other development policy and planning activities.
Two thirds of the nations most vulnerable to climate change are in Africa, where fish provides more than half of the animal protein consumed in some countries. Inland and coastal waters are highly sensitive to climatic variation, and adaptive capacity is low.
Conclusion
Climate change is inevitably a challenge for fisheries and aquaculture. Through rigorous research on impacts, mitigation and adaptation — combined with practical actions locally, nationally, regionally and globally — WorldFish aims to provide new knowledge to inform solutions.
High-quality research that involves resource users, builds strong partnerships and harnesses political will is crucial for making fisheries and aquaculture systems more resilient to the challenge of global climate change and securing a bright future for the people that depend upon them.
July 2009
رابط المقال كاملا بالانجليزية :
http://www.thefishsite.com/articles/...nd-aquaculture