+66 2 561 1728 climate@enaca.org - A Conference on Climate Change Adaptation for Fisheries & Aquaculture

FishAdapt: Sharing practical adaptation experiences

Climate change is altering aquatic ecosystems, driving shifts in physical and chemical processes, ecological communities and the distribution and abundance of species. These changes have implications for fisheries management, food security and the livelihoods of more than 600 million people world wide that are employed in fisheries and aquaculture or related industries.

This conference was targeted at scientists, development professionals and natural resource managers working in the context of fisheries, aquaculture, rural development and related fields. It provided a forum to share practical experiences in understanding the vulnerabilities associated with climate change and the development of risk management and adaptation strategies. The conference bridged inter-disciplinary gaps and provide a wider, shared perspective on the issues and the current state of knowledge.

The Conference Handbook and Programme are available for download.

Goals and format

The conference included a series of panels and presentations, collaborative problem solving, interactive workshop events and discussion spaces. Participants exchanged experiences and ideas and best practices on which to act to assist the sector in furthering its efforts to reduce vulnerability and improve resilience to climate variability and change. The conference:

1. Provided countries, fisheries and aquaculture institutions and networks, civil society, private sector, development partners, and academic institutions the opportunity to present their work in fisheries and aquaculture climate change adaptation and disaster risk management.
2. Fostered the exchange of information and experiences from case studies and projects which aim to show how climate change adaptation in fisheries and aquaculture and disaster risk management may be implemented in different regional and ecosystem settings among fishers, farmers, value chains and dependent communities.
3. Disseminated the wealth of experiences shared through conference proceedings, which included selected conferences papers.
4. Supported the development of a policy brief based on input from the conference to inform policy makers on best practices on climate change adaptation and risk management.
5. Increased awareness of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) processes and inform on how efforts may be communicated to the UNFCCC through, for example, the Nairobi Work Plan, the UNFCCC Least Developed Countries Expert Group and the UNFCCC Adaptation Committee activities.

Conference sponsors