Assessing the impact of climate change on fish

Assessing the impact of climate change on fish

According to a recently released report, due to climate change, fish will move elsewhere from their habitat and migration route.

A recent study assesses the impact of climate change on trans-boundary fish stocks (herds or populations). This study has been done in the context of Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs).

Concerns related to relocation of fisheries:

  • This will affect fishing capacity, fish production, dependent livelihoods and economies.
  • Sustainable Development Goal 14 – Life beneath the aquifer could be affected.
  • This will pose a challenge to the effectiveness of the existing governance and fisheries management framework.
  • This will lead to loss of livelihood of the communities.

Other climate change impacts on fisheries:

Impact on the diversity and distribution of fish; lack of dissolved oxygen in water; Decline in fish production etc.

Necessary measures:

  • The climate change agenda requires coordination at the national level with the SDGs.
  • Enabling national legal and policy-making frameworks for climate change adaptation is critical.
  • Resilience must be built through collective action with cooperation and coordination of climate policies and actions.
  • International fisheries agreements should be reconsidered.

Shared Stores:

  • The concept of common reserves was developed following ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and claims of EEZs by coastal states.
  • According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), common reserves can be classified into four non-exclusive categories: – Trans-boundary stocks, which cross neighboring EEZs
  • Straddling stocks, which, in addition to neighboring EEZs, also move into adjacent open seas (i.e., areas outside national jurisdiction);
  • Highly migratory stocks, which migrate across vast ocean areas, including both the open ocean and EEZs; and discrete reserves, which are found only in the open oceans.

Source – The Hindu

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