E Vivekanandan

Options on Fisheries and Aquaculture for Coping with Climate Change in South Asia

Fisheries and aquaculture have very important roles for food supply, food security and income generation in South Asia. About 7.5 million people work directly in the sector in this region, producing around 8.5 million tonnes annually. Due to several reasons, production from fisheries is stagnant in the last ten years, and aquaculture is not expanding as anticipated. Climate change is projected to exacerbate this situation. The potential outcome for fisheries may be decrease in production and value of coastal and inland fisheries, and decline in the economic returns from fishing operations. The potential outcome for aquaculture may be higher capital, operating and insurance costs, loss of fish stocks, damage to facilities, conflict with other water users, reduced production capacity and increased per unit production costs.