CLIMATE ADAPTATION TO SHIFTING STOCKS

Project Information

CLOCK

Grant agreement ID: 679812

DOI

10.3030/679812

Project closed

EC signature date 4 April 2016

Start date 1 October 2016

End date 30 September 2022

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)

Total cost

€ 1 184 931,00

EU contribution

€ 1 184 931,00

Coordinated by

UNIVERSIDAD DE VIGO
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 4 - CLOCK (CLIMATE ADAPTATION TO SHIFTING STOCKS)

Reporting period: 2021-04-01 to 2022-09-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Marine species are shifting towards colder environments in higher latitudes and deeper waters due to anthropogenic climate change with poorly known consequences for fishing countries and dependent livelihoods. These fisheries systems face new challenges that are often exacerbated by existing fixed policies and regulations since there is a lack of evidence on the adaptation strategies that can be most effective in ecological, social and economic terms. The main objectives of the project are: 1) to understand the new challenges raised by climate change for current sustainable fisheries management; 2) to develop a new approach to fisheries adaptation within a socio-ecological framework (Adaptation Framework); 3) to provide empirical evidence on potential solutions for the fisheries adaptation; 4) to help introduce fisheries adaptation at the top of the regional and international policy agendas. Within this context, CLOCK has advanced the understanding of how current fisheries management systems can overcome the effects of climate change distribution shifts and what are the adaptation measures that can allow equitable and sustainable livelihoods over the long term. The project operated with both a global perspective on climate impacts in fishing and local views on specific fisheries social-ecological systems: the Basque industrial tropical tuna fishery, Galician artisanal fishery and Mexican Nayarit artisanal fishery. As a result, we obtain that climate distribution shifts are already impacting important commercial species, creating greater social and economic vulnerabilities in developing countries, and affecting both technical efficiency and food supply. From the case studies, CLOCK new Adaptation Framework demonstrates that fishers’ adaptation responses are shaped by existing social adaptive capacities and the intensity of climate impacts. Results of CLOCK have informed high level policy reports such as the IPCC 6th Assessment Report and the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

After six years, CLOCK has produced novel evidence on how fisheries systems can adapt to climate change impacts in marine species distribution, key to policy action and to avoid maladaptation. Sustainable and equitable fisheries are needed to maintain the supply of food and animal protein to the human population, and to support the livelihoods of the millions of people. At this point, CLOCK outputs have resulted in 22 peer review publications, 3 international doctoral thesis, 5 master thesis, and number of presentations in international conferences.
The work performed under CLOCK mainly includes 1) the combination of global climate, ecological and fisheries data to understand impacts and adaptation responses in small-scale fisheries; 2) a thoroughly comparison on existing frameworks from various disciplines to design a novel Adaptation Framework in fisheries social-ecological systems; 3) the development of bio-economic models at the local and regional levels to understand optimal management in spatial property right systems, transboundary stocks, and marine protected areas; 4) empirical case study approaches, with stakeholder analysis and individual fisher surveys to understand adaptation responses and test the Adaptation Framework. All these tasks have included constant communication (including collaboration agreements) of research objectives and results, including final workshops in the case study areas.
At the global level, we find that impacts from shifting stocks exacerbate existing vulnerabilities, with larger shifts linked to higher economically dependent species in poorer countries. These impacts have implications for food security and contribute to global inequities, where tropical countries that greatly depend on fisheries for food supply face the larger projected climate impacts, and show more transformative adaptation responses in small-scale fishing communities. We also find research gaps in adaptation for the climate change hotspot areas of the world.
At the local level, we tested the novel adaptation framework for the industrial fisheries in the Basque Country (Spain) and the artisanal fisheries in Nayarit (Mexico) and Galicia (Spain) to further explore adaptation pathways. All fishers respond to climate change following a pathway that goes from remaining in the activity, to adapting (i.e. changing species) and to transforming their livelihoods (i.e. diversifying income outside the fishery). At greater impacts and for some vulnerable fishing groups, exiting the fishery is the main response. Research in CLOCK finds that impact levels and adaptive capacities determine the responses of fishers and organizations to climate change. Results also illustrate how industrial and artisanal fisheries differ in the adaptation responses, being the organization of the fishery key for adaptation in both industrial and artisanal fisheries.
The project results ultimately inform fisheries policy by means of collaboration agreements and participatory processes developed along the action. Results have been presented to the fishing communities to identify key solutions for climate resilience and for sustainable and just adaptation and transformation processes. These policy recommendations were shared with the governing institutions. A series of videos have also been developed to give voice to the sector and to communicate the results

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

CLOCK provides a novel climate Adaptation Framework for fishery social-ecological systems that has been tested under different settings, management regimes and artisanal and industrial fisheries. Understanding how fishers respond to climate impacts greatly facilitates action that promotes adaptation and transformation, and avoids maladaptation outcomes. These adaptation solutions not only address sustainability from an ecological perspective but also from a socioeconomic one, identifying what are the factors, processes and configurations of social-ecological systems that allow people to adapt to climate change.
The set of publications and outputs go beyond the state of the art by linking specific climate impacts to adaptation solutions, and by linking adaptation solutions to specific processes in the system such as communication among actors, participation or co-management. To date, very little evidence exists on preferences towards adaptation actions in artisanal or industrial fisheries, and with this project we have shown examples of what works. For instance, results from the Basque case study show that shifts in distribution of catches of tropical tunas are not only due to the species distributional changes but also due to international agreements, and more so, technological changes do have a huge impact in the location of the activity. In the same line, results from the simulation exercise for marine reserves shows how an optimal spatial design of marine reserve networks now can be resilient to climate change expected impacts under a number of scenarios. These results shed some light on the weight that management and institutional policy decisions can have on how well a fishery adapts to climate change impacts. Also, after comparing scientific findings on sustainability, vulnerability and adaptation in artisanal fisheries globally, we found that environmental integration as well as social and cultural factors and the relationships between people and the target species appear to be important factors in the adaptation process.

Logo of CLOCK project

Fisheries Adaptation Pathways (empirically testing)

Remaining & Adaptation in Fisheries SESs