The All Party Parliamentary Group on Fisheries has heard about the ongoing work around the world to help make fisheries resilient in the face of climate change.
On 12 July speakers, parliamentarians and other attendees discussed parallels between the UK sector and experiences in Maine, British Columbia, Chile and elsewhere.
"It was excellent to reflect on the similarities and differences between fisheries around the world and our industry here in the UK,” said Sheryll Murray, chair of the APPG. “The event provided plenty of food for thought about how we can build climate resilience into our own fisheries and their associated coastal communities."
Climate change brings challenges for fishing industries, especially those bound by inflexible management. Building resilience involves predicting future changes and mitigating their effect, so that human and environmental wellbeing are protected as much as possible.
Merrick Burden, senior director for resilient fisheries & lead senior economist at EDF, highlighted five universal guiding principles for climate-resilient fisheries – sound management and governance, planning for change, enhanced cross-border cooperation, healthy ecosystems, and fairness and equity.
Collaboration is seen as key to creating ‘climate-change’ fisheries with the Maine lobster fishery involving fishermen in management decisions whilst Dr Alistair Hobday of CSIRO emphasised the need for accurate predictive modelling. Similarly, Rubén Pinochet, Chile’s Undersecretary of Fisheries and Aquaculture, spoke about how Chile, Peru, and Ecuador are co-designing an ecosystem early warning system to inform adaptive management in the Humboldt Current.
