Climate change, policy failure growing threats to aquaculture

The world’s food systems are failing. Over 735 million people go hungry and 3.1 billion can’t afford a healthy diet. Every year, one-third of global food production is lost or goes to waste, while millions starve, according to the International Centre for Living Aquatic Resources Management (ICLARM), also known as World Fish.
Yet, the single most powerful solution remains overlooked – the ocean.
Climate change is significantly disrupting fisheries and aquaculture in Africa and across the globe, demanding the urgent transformation of aquatic food systems.
Changing climatic conditions are contributing to ocean warming, rising sea levels, extreme weather events, and changes in the chemical make-up of the aquatic environment that are driving change in the world’s fisheries and aquaculture sector.
Fisheries, aquaculture and associated post-harvest activities support millions of livelihoods and contribute significantly to food security and socio-economic well-being in coastal zones, freshwater systems and beyond.
Fisheries and aquaculture sustain over 800 million people. Aquatic foods are nutrient-dense, climate-friendly, and vital for human health. Yet despite covering 70 per cent of the planet, the ocean supplies just 2 per cent of our food calories. This isn’t a natural limit, it’s a failure of policy, investment and vision, notes World Fish.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), fisheries provide 3 billion people with at least 20 per cent of their average per capita consumption of animal protein, with 400 million depending critically on fish for their food security.
FAO notes that globally, 850 million people live within 100 kilometres of tropical coastal ecosystems, such as coral reefs and mangroves, from which they derive multiple benefits. These benefits include food security, coastal protection, cultural services and income from activities such as fishing, aquaculture and tourism.
Climate change and pollution are predicted to have a range of direct and indirect impacts on marine and freshwater capture fisheries, with implications for fisheries-dependent economies, coastal communities and fisherfolk.
Sea’s sick
Negative impacts of climate change on fisheries and aquaculture include reduced fish abundance, reduced catches, compromised safety of fishers, damage to fishing gear and fisheries infrastructure and threats to fisherfolks’ livelihoods.
Adaptation measures are required at local, national and regional levels. This includes embracing the use of climate-smart technologies, improved fish value chains, access to affordable insurance and mainstreaming climate change into fisheries policy and management.
One of the most profound impacts that has aggravated climate change is plastic pollution, which has increased tenfold since 1980, according to the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).
Between 300-400 million tonnes of heavy metals, solvents, toxic sludge and other wastes from industrial facilities are dumped annually into the world’s waters. Fertilisers entering coastal ecosystems have produced more than 400 ocean ‘dead zones’ totalling more than 245,000 square-kilometres, a combined area greater than that of the United Kingdom.
Studies have revealed that climate change – alongside climate variability events such as El Niño and extreme weather events, are affecting the abundance and distribution of fisheries resources and suitability of geographical locations for aquaculture systems.
Underlying climate-related physical and chemical changes are linked to growing carbon dioxide emissions. In turn, these emissions are being absorbed in large part by aquatic systems and trigger substantial shifts of aquatic ecosystems and related services, with socio-economic consequences around the globe.
Shifts imply both risks and opportunities, experts say. Scientific knowledge varies on the impact of individual climatic drivers and is limited in their combined effects and implications for aquatic resources and dependent communities. These uncertainties can complicate adaptation planning within the sector.
FAO has synthesised the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report’s (AR5) important knowledge on how climate change is already manifesting itself through the aquatic systems. The report assesses what future changes may be, their predicted impacts on food and livelihood security, marine and inland fisheries, and aquaculture systems.
The synthesis overviews AR5’s information across eight regions – Africa, Asia, Australasia, Central and South America, Europe, North America, the small island states and the polar regions. It concludes with a review of knowledge gaps from the fisheries and aquaculture perspective that could benefit from further IPCC efforts.
Fishy farming
AR5 was the culmination of four year’s work by a global community of scientists, decision-makers, climate experts and writers who provide the world with a view of the current and potential impact of climate change and variability across sectors and continents.
The authors acknowledge the important link between adaptation and mitigation within fisheries, aquaculture and aquatic systems.
The AR5 scientific brief also indicates that capture fisheries are largely driven by fossil fuels and so contribute to greenhouse gas emissions through fishing operations, estimated at 40-130 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide.
Transportation of catches is another source of emissions, which is uncertain due to the varying modes and distances of transportation but may exceed those from fishing operations. Mitigation measures may impact on fisheries by increasing the cost of fossil fuel use.
While policy response for specific fisheries will vary, generally the measures needed to align with fisheries management good practice. These include scientific and regulatory measures to ensure healthy and resilient stocks and governance measures to ensure cooperation between different jurisdictions.
They could also include non-sectoral support to help fishers, fish industries and dependent communities adjust to changing circumstances.
The impacts of climate change on fisheries have implications for food security in Africa, according to Essam Mohammed, a researcher in environmental economics at the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and Zenebe Uraguchi, an international adviser in market development at HELVETAS Swiss Inter-cooperation.
Their study examines the contribution of fisheries to poverty reduction and food security, and portray the potential impacts of climate change on the already strained resource in sub-Saharan African countries. Fish is a major source of food for the majority of poor and vulnerable communities.
Trickle effect
The sector also provides jobs to many men and women and is one of the most traded commodities in the continent. Fish trade supports economic growth in many developing countries in general by providing an important source of cash revenue to service international debt, funding the operations of national governments, and importing food for domestic consumption, thus contributing to national food security and diversification of diets.
However, the benefits gained from the sector are often overlooked in national economic planning. While the importance of fisheries to national economies is often underestimated, the impacts of climate change on the sector and its implications for the socio-economics of the coastal and riparian communities are difficult to ignore.
Mohammed says the transformation of aquatic food systems isn’t aspirational, it’s an urgent necessity.
“Policymakers, businesses and consumers must recognise that the future of food security depends on making aquatic foods central to global agricultural strategies and climate resilience efforts,” he argues.
Mohammed insists that today’s food system isn’t inevitable, but rather the product of choices made over decades and it is the time to choose differently by to prioritising nutrition, sustainability and equity.
“If we fail, hunger will rise, ecosystems will collapse and sustainable development opportunities will vanish. If we act, aquatic foods can anchor a more secure, just and climate-resilient future,” he asserts.