Fisheries

© FAO/13488/I. De Borhegyi© FAO/13488/I. De Borhegyi

Fisheries and aquaculture have an important role for food security and income generation: employing several hundred millions as fishers and fish farmers and workers in associated activities in the fishery and aquaculture sector. Aquatic foods provide 20% or more of average per capita animal protein intake for more than 2.8 billion people, the majority of whom live in developing countries. Climate change impacts, such as warming of oceans, rivers and lakes and changes in precipitation, water salinity and ocean acidity as well as the increases in extreme weather events, will increase the uncertainties in the supply of fish from capture fisheries and aquaculture. The availability of food will vary, positively and negatively, resulting from changes in habitats, stocks and species distribution in inland, coastal and marine ecosystems. More frequent long term fluctuations in marine environments, such as those induced by El Niño events and increases in extreme weather events will impact stability of supply. Climate change-induced increased risks of species invasions and spreading of vector-borne diseases may threaten food quality. However, new opportunities and positive impacts (e.g. from changes in species and new markets) will also be part of future changes.

Activities

FAO’s activities aim to increase the adaptive capacity of fisheries and aquaculture-dependent communities and to decrease the sector’s carbon foot print through the promotion of improved management practices. Main areas of activities include:

  • collecting and disseminating data and information on climate change impacts on fisheries, aquaculture and depending livelihoods;
  • developing and disseminating guidelines to promote ecosystem approaches to fisheries and aquaculture, integrated coastal management, and adaptive management under uncertainty;
  • providing technical guidance on appropriate fisheries and aquaculture technologies (e.g. resistant species) and integrated agriculture (e.g. pisciculture);
  • advocating the importance of the sector to livelihoods and food security;
  • assisting in the development of national and regional climate change and food security strategies, priorities, and policies; and
  • assisting in supporting cross-sectoral coordination (technical, social, political, legal, and institutional). 

Key FAO Links

FAO Fisheries & Aquaculture Department: Climate Change
The Global Ocean Observation System (GOOS)

Contact

Page content: Tina.Farmer@fao.org (FIES)
Fisheries and Aquaculture Economics and Policy Division: FIE-Director@fao.org

Publications

FAO. 2008. Climate Change and Food Security in Pacific Island Countries. Rome, FAO. (available at http://www.fao.org/climatechange/media/17003/0/0/.)
FAO. 2008. Climate change and fisheries and aquaculture. High Level Conference on World Food Security - Background Paper HLC/08/BAK/6. FAO. (available at ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/meeting/013/ai787e.pdf.)
FAO. 2008. Report of the FAO EXPERT WORKSHOP ON CLIMATE CHANGE IMPLICATIONS FOR FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE. FAO Fisheries Report No. 870. (available at ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/010/i0203e/i0203e00.pdf.)
FAO. 2007. Building Adaptive Capacity to Climate Change. In New Directions in fisheries, 8, 16. (available at ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/010/a1115e/a1115e00.pdf.)
FAO. 2004. Fisheries in irrigation systems of arid Asia. In FAO Fisheries Technical Paper, 430, Rome, FAO. (available at ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/007/y5082e/y5082e00.pdf.)
FAO. 2003. Future Climate Change and Regional Fisheries: A Collaborative Analysis. Rome, FAO. (available at http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/006/Y5028E/Y5028E00.HTM.)
FAO. 2001. Climate Change and long-term fluctuation of commercial catches:the possibility of forecasting. 1, Rome, FAO. (available at http://www.fao.org/docrep/005/y2787e/y2787e00.htm.)
FAO. 1997. Climate, limnology and fisheries changes of Lake Tanganyika. Rome, FAO.
FAO. 1997. Empirical Investigation on the relationship between clmate and small pelagic global regimes and El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Rome, FAO. (available at http://www.fao.org/docrep/W7469E/W7469E00.htm.)

Further Publications

Handisyde,N. et al. (2006) The Effects of Climate change on World Aquaculture: A global perspective.

Allison, E. H. et al. (2005) Effects of climate change on the sustainability of capture and enhancement fisheries important to the poor: analysis of the vulnerability and adaptability of fisherfolk living in poverty. London, Fisheries Managament Science Programme MRAG/DFID, Project no. R4778J. Final Technical Report, 164 pp.

Allison, E.H. et al. (2007). Enhancing the resilience of inland fisheries and aquaculture systems to climate change. Journal of Semi-Arid Tropical Agricultural Research 4(1).

last updated: Tuesday, May 26, 2009