Marine fisheries provide protein for more than 3 billion people worldwide, provide employment opportunities for more than 200 million people, and make significant contributions to people’s livelihoods, food security and well-being. However, due to climate change, overfishing, habitat destruction, marine environmental pollution and eutrophication, global fishery resources — including Chinese fisheries — are facing a serious decline. Read More
As the biosphere continues to warm and the ocean acidifies, solving the global carbon problem becomes more critical each day. Keeping temperatures to survivable levels requires reducing emissions while at the same time working aggressively to absorb as much carbon dioxide as possible, using approaches that can nurture natural ecosystems and help vulnerable human communities flourish. Read More
One of the things I focus on in my role as a climate scientist is understanding the impact of climate change on ocean fish populations as well as better fishery management practices to help ensure the continued delivery of seafood and livelihoods for millions of people around the world. Critically, the world is confronted with the challenge of increasing access to healthy food for a population that is expected to reach 10 billion by 2050. This summer, as people around the world take to the beaches and coastlines for some relaxation and enjoyment, it’s valuable to remember the major role oceans have in supporting human sustenance. Read More
By Christopher Cusack, Edwina Garchitorena and Rod Fujita
Globally, fisheries are of great importance. Yet small-scale fishers and their communities in the tropics are among the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Rebuilding and managing the fish stocks that these communities rely on is critical to ensuring the food security and climate resilience of hundreds of millions of small-scale fishers globally. Generally, we know how to achieve this: reduce fishing pressure to allow stocks to grow to healthy levels and protect and improve fragile ocean ecosystems. Read More
With a record drought depleting rivers and reservoirs, wildfires burning across the Western U.S., historic floods in Germany and China, landslides in Japan, and my own notoriously wet and dreary hometown of Portland, Oregon hitting 115 degrees recently, it’s hard to avoid thinking about climate change. But while the terrestrial impacts are wide-ranging and obvious, impacts to our oceans — no less disruptive — are generally less visible. Yet, healthy oceans are critical for sustainable fisheries and other vital ecosystem services. Fisheries provide jobs for hundreds of millions of people globally, and billions rely on seafood as an important source of protein and micronutrients.
Today, we’re introducing readers to the concept of climate resilience in marine fisheries through a new, three-part video series called “Fishing for Resilience.” As Environmental Defense Fund’s Senior Director for Resilient Fisheries, I played a central role in the creation of this short series — even “starring” in the videos as narrator.
Producing and narrating these videos was a bit of a personal journey for me, and not just because I had to listen to my own voice. It’s because I tried to bring this concept home, and found myself asking what climate change means to friends and family that ply the seas, what it means for my community, and what it means for the wildlife and ecosystems that I hold dear. That got me right into thinking about how to help the people, wildlife and broader ocean ecosystems that I care about in practical ways.
