In recognition of the importance of fisheries to the Pacific, SPC and the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) have joined forces to assess the likely effects of climate change on fish habitats and the productivity of oceanic, coastal and inland fisheries and aquaculture. Read more: the NEW PROJECT BRIEF

The broad aim of the project is to equip policy-makers and managers in the Pacific Island countries and territories with information on how climate change might affect their plans for the sustainable use of fish for economic growth, food security and livelihoods.

The project will address important questions about the effects of climate change on fisheries, such as: Will the abundance and distribution of tuna change? Will coastal fisheries be less productive? Are changes in weather patterns likely to increase the risks of fishing at sea? Will future patterns of rainfall affect the potential for small-pond aquaculture? How well prepared are fishing communities and industries in the region to adapt?

The Pacific Islands Framework for Action on Climate Change (PIFACC) 2006-2015 explicitly recognizes the need to identify vulnerable sectors to better design and target adaptation measures. Several consequences of the build-up of greenhouse gases threaten to derail plans for optimising the benefits from fisheries in the region. Pacific Island countries and territories (PICTs) need to understand the extent of these threats; identify their implications for economic growth, food security, livelihoods; and adapt fisheries and aquaculture to maintain the vital contributions to their economies, societies and cultures in the face of climate change.

The key threats to fisheries and aquaculture in the Pacific from climate change appear to include:

• changes to the distribution and abundance of tuna;
• decline in coral reefs and associated fisheries;
• increased operating costs associated with 'climate proofing' shore-based facilities and updrading fleets to provide improived safety at sea and;
• damage to ponds for freshwater aquaculture.

The way these threats will affect different PICTs is not yet clear, as recognized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Expert Consultation on Climate Change for Fisheries and Aquaculture. To assist PICTs to understand the vulnerability of the region to these and other emergency threats, SPC has launched a project to assess the impact of climate change on Pacific fisheries.

A Technical Working Group has been put together to assist the project. This group provides the wide range of expertise needed to review and assess current developments in oceanography, climate change and ecosystem dynamics, and to produce a coherent overview of the likely effects of climate change on fisheries and aquaculture in the Pacific.

The Technical Working Group contributes to all important outputs of the project, and all components of the vulnerability assessment.

The group draws on the considerable expertise available in the region and includes members from scientific research institutes in SPC countries and territories, and the Council of Regional Organisations in the Pacific (CROP).

• members from scientific research institutes in SPC countries and territories

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