Climate Change Impacts, Vulnerabilities and Adaptations of Western Indian Ocean Marine Fisheries
Climate Change Impacts, Vulnerabilities and Adaptations of Western Indian Ocean Marine Fisheries
Abstract:
The economies of many countries and small island developing states (SIDS) around and in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) are strongly dependent on large scale commercial industrial tuna fisheries and small-scale coastal fisheries. Climate change has already had observable impacts on fisheries throughout the WIO. Mounting evidence indicates that climate change is causing tuna species to shift spatial distributions and range, and is expected to have knock-on effects on coral reef fisheries in the WIO. Warmer habitats with declining productivity, increased human pressure on less resilient coastal ecosystems, and major changes in distribution of large pelagic species will induce strong social and economic impacts in the WIO. As a response to changing spatial distribution, the mobile industrial fleets targeting tuna and billfish would relocate outside the WIO. For locally operated domestic fleets in the WIO, innovation in fishing techniques and gears will be a requirement to adapt and mitigate the impact of evolving habitat. Whenever catch or effort allocation systems are in place for migrating species, they should be adjusted periodically to account for the spatial patterns of target species. Monitoring, information dissemination and awareness of vulnerabilities to climate change in the WIO are currently weak and should be strengthened through community-level vulnerability assessments, integrated monitoring programmes that are effective and feasible with existing capacities, complemented by implementation of an ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF).
Existing adaptive measures that could benefit the sector in the WIO include 1) developing and implementing fishery-specific adaptive management plans,
2) implementation, or strengthening, of effective systems of marine protected areas (MPAs), 3) implementation of an EAF, the FAO Code of Conduct for
Responsible Fisheries and Voluntary guidelines on small-scale fisheries and 4) a sustainable, inclusive blue economy approach. Partnerships at the local, regional and international levels will be key to achieving capacity development for effective management of marine and coastal fisheries, and building adaptive capacity and resilience to climate change in the WIO region.
Existing adaptive measures that could benefit the sector in the WIO include 1) developing and implementing fishery-specific adaptive management plans,
2) implementation, or strengthening, of effective systems of marine protected areas (MPAs), 3) implementation of an EAF, the FAO Code of Conduct for
Responsible Fisheries and Voluntary guidelines on small-scale fisheries and 4) a sustainable, inclusive blue economy approach. Partnerships at the local, regional and international levels will be key to achieving capacity development for effective management of marine and coastal fisheries, and building adaptive capacity and resilience to climate change in the WIO region.