Fisheries policies adaptation and resilience to climate change and ocean acidification

Understanding the impacts of climate change on target fish stocks is of critical importance to supporting and future-proofing the fishing industry and marine economy.

This project used a literature review, alongside expert engagement, to discuss the predicted effects of climate change on fish stocks, the likely effects on the Scottish fishing industry and to provide recommendations to fill information deficits and inform policy.

Key findings

The Scottish marine ecosystem and the fisheries it sustains face a dynamic and uncertain future due to a changing climate:

• Climate change and ocean acidification is expected to have ecosystem-level impacts, which will likely result in distribution and ecological changes to key commercial species in Scottish waters.
• As the distributions of commercial species shift geographically and weather becomes less predictable, fishing grounds increase or decrease in importance.
• Climate change stresses could impact the value and utility of traditional Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) assessments, which indicate the maximum quantity of fish that can be caught sustainably.
• Area-based management tools, including single species-protection Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), may become ineffective as conservation and management tools in the long term. This is due to changing distributions, abundances and life histories.
• Limiting the pressure from disruptive fishing methods may increase resilience of inshore ecosystems, such as maerl beds and estuaries, to the impacts of climate change.
• Redistribution of commercial species around Scotland may lead to new opportunities for the industry. However, the supporting network of the industry, such as consumers and supermarkets, needs to work in step to support diversification.
• Ways of strengthening current modelling could be explored. For example, by the factoring in of scenarios such as those relating to ecosystem changes or interactions between increasing temperature and ocean acidification.

For further details, please read the report.

If you require the report in an alternative format, such as a Word document, please contact info@climatexchange.org.uk or 0131 651 4783.