Fisheries, aquaculture and climate change - Guidance for adaptation and mitigation

This “How to do” note, prepared by the IFAD Policy and Technical Advisory Division, draws on several reports and guidelines prepared since 2010, based on extensive process of consultation and concerted effort from numerous fisheries, aquaculture and climate change experts, and with substantive inputs from a range of stakeholders, including small-case fisher and fish farmers, academics, personnel from ministries of fisheries, civil society and the private sector, as well from IFAD’s development partners.

It describes a range of multiple-benefit options for integrating climate change adaptation and mitigation into IFAD interventions in the fisheries and aquaculture sectors, based on a review of relevant literature on climate change, the fisheries and aquaculture sectors, and related activities of other international organizations. Most of the proposed measures are not new concepts or ideas but have been proven to provide a range of benefits to increase the resilience of small-scale fishers and fish farmers, as well the ecosystems on which they rely.

Proposed measures are grouped according to the main objectives that address climate-related risks: increase climate resilience of small scale fishers and fish farmers; increase capacity to manage short-term and long-term climate risks and reduce losses from weather-related disasters; and reduce and/or sequester GHG emissions. The choice of interventions should always be driven by the targeted communities and based on thorough risk and vulnerability assessment.