Pictured: Catch unloaded at Peterhead Harbour, Scotland, UK.
Photo: Seafish.
A recent report by Seafish sheds light on the significant impacts that climate change is likely to have on the UK’s fishing and wild capture seafood industry, the organization has announced.
Titled Climate Change Risk Adaptation in UK Seafood, the report aims to equip the industry with the necessary knowledge to adapt to future challenges and opportunities, Seafish said.
The study, conducted by a team of researchers from Seafish, the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS), and Aberdeen University, is a follow-up to similar research published a decade ago. Since then, while many of the physical climate impacts - such as changing sea levels, volatile weather conditions, rising air and water temperatures, and ocean acidification - remain unchanged, new factors have emerged, the authors point out.
These new climate risk areas include policy shifts placing greater emphasis on climate change responsibilities, changing market attitudes toward responsible sourcing, and the growing issue of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, driven by both climate and geopolitical factors.
The report, which drew on engagement with around 30 industry stakeholders, reviews projected climate impacts on seafood supply chains and identifies potential adaptation strategies. The focus is on species groups crucial to the UK market, including whitefish, pelagics, and shellfish, both from domestic and international sources.
Dr. Angus Garrett of Seafish emphasized the need for the seafood sector to prepare for a warming world: "There are changes afoot in fisheries with impacts right along seafood supply chains. The extent of future warming remains an open question, but being prepared for potential changes is within our grasp," Garrett said, adding that he and his co-authors hoped the latest report would contribute to this preparation.
Co-author Professor John Pinnegar from CEFAS also highlighted the industry’s vulnerabilities and lessons learned. "In the last few years as a result of the COVID pandemic we have learnt a lot about resilience, or rather lack of it, in the UK wild-capture seafood supply chain," Pinnegar said. "These insights have proved invaluable when trying to map-out possible sensitivities to climate change in the future."
The full report, titled ‘Climate change risk adaptation in UK seafood: Understanding and responding to a changing climate in the wild capture seafood industry’, was produced by Dr Angus Garrett (Seafish), Prof. John Pinnegar (Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, CEFAS), Dr Tara Marshall and Dr Julia Wouters (Aberdeen University).
