Climate Change Challenges on Indian marine fisheries sector

Climate change can have a significant influence on terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity at all system levels – ecosystem, species and genetic. Marginalised sections of communities will further be pushed due to the impacts of climate change. The effect on the marine ecosystem will be multipronged affecting the environment, the resources and the resource users, affecting the sustainability. Primary strategies and policies will have to be sensitive to all the components separately, yet complimenting each other. This chapter is part of the studies undertaken for the Belmont Forum funded project titled `Global Learning and Understanding for Local Solution’ (GULLS) to reduce the vulnerability of marine-dependent coastal communities in two marine fishing villages in Kerala, southwest India by attempting to test a climate resilient village adaptation and mitigation plan (CReVAMP) for vulnerable coastal communities with the understanding that overall vulnerability could be mitigated only by increasing the adaptive capacity of the population. Blue economy emerges as a commonly acceptable development paradigm which will effectively blend economic growth with sustainable development. Policies on adaptation need to consider multiple scales of climate change effects. Integrating adaptation and mitigation will increase the local legitimacy of the plan, as adaptation emphasizes on local needs