Impact and adaptation options for Indian marine fisheries to climate change

It was realized about ten years ago that the scope for increasing fish catch from the coastal waters is limited. Climate change is projected to exacerbate this situation and act as a depensatory factor on fish populations. Warming of water has potential impact on fish diversity, distribution, abundance and phenology, which will have, in turn, effects on the ecosystem structure and function. Global warming and the consequent changes in climatic patterns will have strong impact on fisheries with far-reaching consequences for food and livelihood security of a sizeable section of the population. Acidification of water will have effects on calciferous animals. Increased incidence of extreme events such as storms, floods and drought will affect the safety and efficiency of fishing operations, flow of rivers, area covered by wetlands and water availability and will have severe impacts on fisheries. Sea level rise will have effects on the coastal profile and livelihoods of communities. The potential outcome for fisheries may be decrease in production and value of fisheries, and decline in the economic returns from fishing operations