Page 37 - FAO Aquaculture News, May 2021 - No. 63

Climate Change Adaptation in Fisheries and

Aquaculture in the Central Asia and Caucasus Region

Aquaculture Updates by Region
virtual webinar on climate change adaptation in fisheries data can be used as input for improved impact evaluation
A and aquaculture in the Central Asia and Caucasus (CAC) for fisheries and aquaculture. However, current knowledge
region was organized on 23–24 June 2020 in two sessions in on the potential climate change impacts on aquaculture in
cooperation with Bogazici University’s Center for Climate the region is inadequate.
Change and Policy Studies. The webinar was supported by – There have been several studies on the impact of climate
the project “Capacity Building for Sustainable Fisheries and change on water resources in the Central Asian countries.
Aquaculture Management in Central Asia, Azerbaijan, and Climate change would pose remarkable risks to fisheries
Turkey (FISHCap): GCP/SEC/013/TUR”, implemented and aquaculture in the CAC region, as indicated by
under the FAO-Turkey Partnership Programme on Food and growing numbers of reported climate projections and
Agriculture and funded by the Government of the Republic scenarios. It is known that a significant number of lakes
of Turkey. The virtual workshop aimed to provide an overview in Asia, such as the Aral Sea, have considerably shrunk in
of the status and impacts of climate change on aquaculture size, while others are in danger or have fully disappeared.
and fisheries in Central Asia and the Caucasus and to discuss Evidence indicates unusual water level fluctuations in
potential adaptation and mitigation activities. The webinar was large waterbodies.
originally scheduled for March 2020, but was postponed due – Climate change could have economic impacts on the
to the COVID-19 pandemic. fisheries and aquaculture sectors in the region, including
the producers, input suppliers, support industry,
The target audience of the webinar included government staff,
decision-makers in fisheries and aquaculture management, consumers and other stakeholders along the value chain.
However, it was stated that mitigation options and
academics and researchers involved in climate change issues,
and fish farmers and representatives of fishery/fish farming strategies exist for the direct and indirect climate impacts
on inland fisheries and aquaculture, including culture-
organizations. More than 60 experts participated in the
workshop, hailing from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, based fisheries. Some of these strategies are increased
water usage efficiency, use of recirculation systems in
Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
aquaculture production systems, innovative technologies,
The following are the key messages from the webinar: and integrated water resource management and planning.
– Climate change is an increasing global challenge that The culture of low-trophic-level species would contribute
requires urgent, coordinated and consistent action. to climate change mitigation.
– Climate change is increasingly affecting the fisheries and
aquaculture industry. Both direct and indirect climate Conclusions and future prospects
impacts include changes in the range and productivity Climate change is one of the biggest global challenges with
of targeted species, their habitats and food webs, as well an alarming upward trend. The CAC region is projected to
as the impacts on fishery and aquaculture costs and be significantly affected by climate change with implications
productivity and fishing community livelihoods and safety. for many communities and industries, including fisheries and
Climate change could have either positive or negative aquaculture, but the region lacks historical climate data. The
impacts on aquaculture, which might arise from direct and impacts of climate change are expected to be more intense
indirect effects on the natural resources that aquaculture in developing countries due to the limited capacity and high
requires, such as land, water, feed, seed and energy. economic and social costs of adaptation. Renewable energy
– Climate change is posing considerable risks to aquatic and green technologies could help countries to mitigate
ecosystems and to social and economic systems in the climate change. The cost of climate action will be significant,
Central Asia and Caucasus (CAC) region. Central Asia and the actions will require a coordinated public-private
is particularly vulnerable to climate change, particularly sector response. In the context of the CAC region, further
because of the arid nature of the region. studies/research, on the following topics would provide useful
– Understanding the perceptions of aquaculture stakeholders information for the climate actions both at national and
regarding the impact of climate change on aquaculture is regional levels:
important to develop adaptation/mitigation policies. – climate change impacts on aquatic ecosystems, species,
– Lack of long-term historical climate data in most cases and water resources and their flow regimes;
makes it difficult to project impacts from climate change. – ecological restoration, biodiversity conservation and
– Historical meteorological, hydrological and limnological ecosystem connectivity;
– farming of species that are tolerant of a wide range of
Written by: environmental conditions and stressors;
Haydar Fersoy – farming of low-trophic-level species; and
E-mail: Haydar.Fersoy@fao.org – water-smart, ecofriendly aquaculture productions systems.
FAO Subregional Office for Central Asia, Ankara, Turkey
John Jorgensen SEE ALSO
E-mail: John.Jorgensen@fao.org
FAO Fisheries Division, Rome, Italy FAO. 2020. The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture
(SOFIA): www.fao.org/fishery/sofia/en

36 FAO AQUACULTURE NEWS – Nº. 63 ■ MAY 2021