Caribbean fisheries highly vulnerable to climate change, need to adapt

Analysis in the SEI journal Climate and Development predicts severe negative impacts, including loss and alteration of habitats, smaller and less-diverse fish stocks, and coral bleaching, and urges prompt action to help the region’s fishers prepare.

The review is authored by Leonard Nurse, Ph.D., senior lecturer at the Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies at the University of the West Indies and a member of the scientific team of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Fisheries employ nearly 200,000 people in the Caribbean Community alone, Nurse notes, earning USD $5 billion to $6 billion per year in foreign exchange and providing about 10 per cent of the region’s protein intake. Recreational fishing and dive tourism are also major revenue sources; in 2000, one study estimated, dive tourism based on coral reefs brought in about USD $2.1 billion. For Tobago alone, coral reefs drew USD $43.5 million in 2006, or 15 per cent of GDP.

Nurse, whose specialty is gauging climate impacts on small island states, writes that although there is a ‘dearth of research’ on the specific effects of climate change Caribbean fisheries, broader studies and observations in other regions provide plenty of grounds for concern.

Expected changes
Global climate models suggest that average temperatures in the Caribbean will rise by 0.5–1.0°C by 2039, 0.8–2.5°C from 2040 to 2069, and 0.94–4.8°C between 2070 and 2099, Nurse writes, and similar trends in sea surface temperatures are expected.

Warming waters are a primary cause of coral bleaching, Nurse notes. Many Caribbean islands have reported ‘significant’ bleaching, and the problem is expected to become more severe, with negative impacts on the diversity and size of fish communities. There is also evidence that worldwide, species are moving poleward as sea temperatures rise. Plankton mass has declined in many areas, leaving fish without the food they need. Warming waters and changing ocean circulation patterns may also alter the length and timing of spawning seasons, and could lead to higher fish mortality.

In addition, there is evidence that climate-related changes in ocean chemistry, including acidification, threaten fish. The world’s oceans have become roughly 30 per cent more acidic since 1750, Nurse notes, and this makes it harder for organisms to form shells; with global CO2 increasing, this is a grave threat to reef habitats and associated fauna.

Lastly, the severity of tropical storms is increasing, with eight Category 5 hurricanes in 2001–2010, compared with a total of 23 between 1928 and 2000. Storms are also reaching high intensity more quickly, suggesting that fishers will have less time to secure their boats and gear. More severe storms could also accelerate coastal erosion and loss and put critical infrastructure such as wharves at risk.

‘Thus, apart from having to adapt to altered conditions such as changes in fish stock distribution and abundance, stakeholders will also be confronted by the possibility of increased storminess at sea and on land, and higher risk to the safety of fishers as well as vessels,’ Nurse writes.

‘Adaptation is the only option’
Since stopping climate change is beyond Caribbean fisheries’ power, and negative effects are already being felt, ‘adaptation is the only option’, Nurse writes. Actions must be taken to improve the resilience of habitats and key species, e.g., strict enforcement of marine control protocols; reduced contamination from land-based sources; reviving and expanding habitat protection programmes; and control of overharvesting and damaging methods of harvest.

Good governance and co-management principles, especially those based on principles of ecosystem health, partnership, equity and sustainable livelihoods, would also be crucial to adaptation planning. Nurse also suggests targeting new or non-traditional species to allow fishers to maintain their livelihoods while relieving pressure on heavily exploited stocks.

‘While the region can do little to reverse the trend of global greenhouse gas emissions and higher seawater temperatures, actions can be taken to improve the resilience of habitats and targeted species to the adverse effects of climate change,’ he writes.

Nurse calls for ‘ongoing, focused research’ in this field to fill crucial information gaps, and he urged Caribbean fishermen to take advantage of existing climate adaptation funds, and to become more vocal in the global debate over climate change.

‘Industry stakeholders in the Caribbean need to become more actively engaged in the global and regional debate, which hopefully will provide the consensus for a solution that is lasting and equitable,’ writes Nurse.

To view this article, please visit:
http://www.sei-international.org/news-and-media/2151

Reporters and editors can request a copy by emailing:
cdev@sei-international.org

For more information, please contact:
Tom Gill – managing editor, Climate and Development
tom.gill@sei-international.org +46 73 707 8523

Leonard Nurse – author of the article: ‘The implications of global climate change for fisheries management in the Caribbean’
leonard.nurse@cavehill.uwi.edu

Ylva Rylander – press and communications advisor, Stockholm Environment Institute
ylva.rylander@sei-international.org  +46 731 50 33 84

Climate and Development is the leading international, peer-reviewed journal on the links between climate and development. The journal is published by the Stockholm Environment Institute and Earthscan/Taylor & Francis in partnership with the Global Change System for Analysis, Research and Training (START) and supported by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA).

Stockholm Environment Institute is an independent international research institute. The institute has established a reputation for rigorous and objective scientific analysis in the field of environment and development. SEI aims to bring about change for sustainable development by bridging science and policy. www.sei-international.org

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