Fisheries Newsletter No 156 (May–August 2018)

Editorial

Climate change is usually associated with increasing temperatures and rising sea level. But these are only two of its many consequences, even if they are perhaps the most dramatic. Johann Bell and Tarûb Bahri, in their article on page 43, discuss the likely consequences of climate change for industrial and coastal fisheries of the Pacific Islands region, as well as for aquaculture. For industrial fisheries, it is predicted that the four main tuna stocks – albacore, bigeye, skipjack and yellowfin – will be ‘relatively’ unharmed by climate change because of their ability to move to favourable areas. But, this shift will particularly affect those small island States that are highly dependent on licence fees from industrial fleets, and in which the local population depends heavily on coastal marine resources for food security.

The consequences of climate change on small-scale fisheries are mostly linked to the increase in sea surface temperatures, which will drive many target species to higher latitudes, and will damage or destroy vast areas of reefs, thereby considerably reducing their productivity. In the Pacific islands, most small-scale catches come from coral reefs, and many communities have few sources of animal protein other than those derived from the sea, thus making coastal populations particularly vulnerable to climate change.

In reading the various articles in this issue, I couldn’t help but notice that almost all of the topics covered – tuna fisheries science and management, shark survival, identification of alternative marine resources, recruitment of juvenile eels, rock oyster aquaculture – cannot be addressed without taking into account the impact of climate change. A challenge that requires an urgent and effective response.

Aymeric Desurmont
Fisheries Information Specialist