Fisheries and aquaculture in our changing climate

This 6 page summary of the issues surrounding fisheries and climate change, "Fisheries and aquaculture in our changing climate
", was prepared as the consensus opinion of 20 agencies in preparation for the UN Climate talks in Copenhagen in 2009.

It discusses the link between traditional human impacts on the marine environment, such as habitat destruction to the approaches needed when addressing climate change impacts and adaptation in fisheries. Unusually, it includes gender issues in fishing folk communities and the importance of strategic investment.

It underlines the importance of the marine environment in climate regulation through heat and carbon sinks. It describes that supporting healthy marine environments to support fisheries will also deliver co-benefits to protect and help coastal communities. The briefing document proposes that aquaculture development is a good adaptation strategy as temperatures and sea levels rise, providing new opportunities for new species and coastal areas to be farmed.

Importantly, this document also adds into the discussion a reference to the possibility of fisheries communities accessing finance mechanisms such as REDD, to support the protection and restoration of mangroves; offering the benefits of finance, nurseries for fisheries, coastal protection and timber. The document is available online.
HYPERLINK "ftp://ftp.fao.org/FI/brochure/climate_change/policy_brief.pdf"ftp://ftp.fao.org/FI/brochure/climate_change/policy_brief.pdf

There is further useful FAO information on fisheries adaptation here. HYPERLINK "http://www.fao.org/fishery/topic/14758/en"http://www.fao.org/fishery/topic/14758/en