Global climate change is altering the physical and chemical conditions of the ocean. This in turn affects marine ecosystems in ways that ultimately exacts a toll on fisheries and human well-being. To ensure sustainable marine fisheries well into the future, we need to develop effective mitigation and adaptation strategies. These policies will require credible scientific assessments of the close linkages between the physical, ecological, and socioeconomic systems on which fisheries depend. Specifically, we need to forecast future ocean conditions based on climate change scenarios, and use this information to assess the biological and ecological responses to these changes. A global assessment is emerging that draws genuine linkages between these elements on several fronts, and in this symposium, we will present a series of tightly knit interdisciplinary papers that account for the entire spectrum from physical oceanographic changes on up to socioeconomic impacts as a result of climate change–altered fisheries. The panel will illustrate how projected climate changes will ultimately lead to global shifts in fish catches, from global to regional scales, and how this will affect the contribution of marine fishery resources to human welfare.
Current Contribution of Global Fisheries to Human Welfare
Effects of Climate Change on the Biophysics of the Ocean
Climate Change and the Ecology of Fish and Fisheries
Climate Change Impacts on Fisheries and Human Welfare
Food Security Implications of Climate Change Impacts on Fisheries