Page 69 - FAO-IPCC Expert meeting on climate change

Appendix 01: Speakers’ summary notes
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Polyculture of two or more species (carps or carps and tilapia/catfish) predominate in major inland aquaculture producers like Bangladesh, China and India; highly diversified and recognized as resilient culture systems. These enable saving on feed and other external inputs are more resilient to mono-culture systems, and economically viable.
AS should involve minimal dislocation of farming communities and major overhaul of practices e.g. species changes related acquisition of expertise and costly infrastructure developments. For example, the most desirable adaptation for sea level rise impacts of catfish farming in the lower Mekong Delta is the development of salinity tolerant strain(s)29. Such approach has already involved relevant investment in research but will require significant implementation efforts.
AS to climate change in aquaculture cannot be considered in isolation. When challenges of feeding nine billion people (by 2050) are considered the issues raised are competition for land, water and energy and the over exploitation of fishery resources30,31. A primary strategy to CCI in the tropics will be to minimize water use and in this context rice-fish/ shrimp farming provide options of generating synergies from combined farming systems32,33. Implementation of an ecosystem approach to aquaculture allows to develop landscape based participatory management plans that address the socioeconomic, environmental and governance objectives while using risk assessment to design management measures34. Aquaponics is another promising option by supplementing food security, farmer incomes, reducing nutrient in effluent and efficient use of water35.
Recommendations
An era where a further decrease from the marine capture fisheries is predicted36, making the contribution of IFAq even more important for global food security.
Water is becoming a precious and limiting resource and most of the CCI revolve around the “water cycle” therefore is imperative to develop adaptive approaches that combine farming systems to improve efficacies for food security. Specific recommendations that link inland fisheries and inland aquaculture to this domain are:
• More in depth studies are needed to better understand direct and indirect CCI on inland fisheries; there is a need to incorporate climatic events and land use pattern of catchments and develop quantitative models to enable
to understand the interactions and facilitate planning and management and streamline IFAq in the National Adaptation Plans and in watershed planning.
• Aquaculture practices that use a combination of species that feed low in the trophic chain should be encouraged, resulting in minimal GHG emissions per unit food fish.
• Adaptations should involve minimal dislocation of farming communities and changes to existing practices.
• Initiate R & D on farming systems that could work in combination e.g. rice-fish, rice-shrimp and develop adaptive
measures that are “water saving ” through aquaponics and other forms of integrated farming.
• The global community must give the deserved attention to the impacts of climate change on in inland ecosystems,
fisheries and aquaculture.
29 Nguyen L.A., Vinh D.H., Bosma R., Verreth J., et al.. (2014). Ambio, 43; 1059-1068.
30 Hanjra, M.A., Qureshi, M.E. (2010). Food Policy, 35, 365-377
31 Godfray, H.C.J., Beddington, J.R., Crute, I.R., et al. (2011). Science, 327 (February 2011), 812-818.
32 Ahmed, N., Ward, J.D., Saint, C.P. (2014). Food Science 6, 767-779.
33 Hu, L., Tang, J., Zhang, J., et al. (2015). Chinese Journal of Eco-Agriculture 23, 268-275. (in Chinese with)
34 Aguilar-Manjarrez, J., Soto, D., Brummett, R. (2017). Report ACS18071. Rome, FAO, and World Bank Group, Washington, DC. 350 pp
35 Chen, J., Meng, S., Hu, G., Qu, J., Fan, L. (2010). Journal of Ecology and Rural Environment 26, 155-159. (in Chinese)
36 Cheung, W.W.L., Reygondeau, G., Frělicher, T.L. (2016). Science, Vol. 354, Issue 6319, pp. 1591-1594.
FAO-IPCC Expert meeting on climate change, land use and food security