Climate Change and Fisheries in Africa: Issues and Challenges
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Date
2011
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Indian Journal of Science and Technology
Abstract
It has been ascertained that climatic changes will have a wide range of direct and indirect impacts on aquatic ecosystem, capture fisheries, and aquaculture with a great implications for fisheries-dependent economies if not mitigated. Africa has been considered more vulnerable to the effect of these changes than developed countries due to capacity for adaptability and
weak economic power to tackle the problem. As fisheries provide significant feed and seed inputs, the impacts of climate change on them will also affect the productivity and profitability of aquaculture operation. Climatic changes could induce physiological stress on cultured stock and causes metabolic disorder, which would not only affect fish productivity but also increase vulnerability to diseases, impose higher risks and reduce returns to farmers. Fisheries and aquaculture provides an important source of cash income for many poor households, and serve as the main source of food for a billion people worldwide, providing a valuable protein complement to the starchy diet common among the global poor, and essential fatty acid especially n- 3 PUFAs (DHA, EPA). This paper will examine the way in which climatic changes affect fisheries and aquaculture production, and recommend some measures.