Managing for climate resilient fisheries

Climate change is having profound effects on populations of fished species and the ecosystems on which they depend, lending to a growing body of work that advocates for climate resilience to be a priority in fisheries management. A paper published in Ocean and Coastal Management in May 2023 provides a comprehensive analysis of the tools needed to manage for climate resiliency, and applies them to CCAMLR, noting progress, gaps, and opportunities for implementation. Here, we provide a summary of those tools. Across the literature, ecosystem-based management was cited as an appropriate tool for climate resilience of marine ecosystems, as was the use of climate model outputs (projections and simulations), marine protected areas (MPAs), and dynamic stock assessments. CCAMLR has a unique position where its Convention effectively mandates the principles of an ecosystem-based precautionary approach for managing fisheries, and many of its Member States have been advocating for climate initiatives within this approach. While CCAMLR has made limited overall progress towards ensuring climate resilience, it has advanced in some areas, such as MPA implementation, developing a risk assessment for krill, and including statements on climate change in fishery reports, although there is much work to be done. The full paper can be found here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0964569123001059