The Economics of Adapting Fisheries to Climate Change
Climate change is becoming more evident and, as it increases, will alter the productivity
of fisheries and the distribution of fish stocks. From an economic point of view,
the changes will have impacts on fisheries and coastal communities in different ways.
These expected changes require adaptable and flexible fisheries and aquaculture management
policies and governance frameworks. However, the forms of future climate change and
the extent of its impact remain uncertain. Fisheries policy makers therefore need
to develop strategies and decision-making models in order to adapt to climate change
under such uncertainty while taking into account social and economic consequences.
While most work on climate change in the fisheries sector has focused on fisheries
science, this book highlights the economic and policy aspects of adapting fisheries
to climate change. An outcome of the OECD Workshop on the Economics of Adapting Fisheries
to Climate Change, held in June 2010, the book outlines the actions that fisheries
policy makers must undertake in the face of climate change. These include: strengthening
the global governance system; a broader use of rights-based management systems; ecosystem
protection; industry transformation through the ending of environmental harmful subsidies
and a focus on demand for sustainably caught seafood; and, in particular, using aquaculture
as a key part of the response to climate change.