Impacts of Climate Change on Fish and Fisheries

By : Mogalekar H.S. , Jawahar P. , S. Ajidhaslin , T. Yuvaraj

Page No: 51-66

Abstract
Climate change is one of the most pressing issues facing the world today. Scientific research has unequivocally established that greenhouse gas emissions are leading to increasing changes in the Earth’s climate. Increasing temperatures, melting of glaciers, sea level rise, drought, changes in precipitation patterns and the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, are the source of additional uncertainties and stress on the world’s ecosystems. Climate change has serious impacts on various aquatic ecosystems including rivers, reservoirs, estuaries and oceans. These include impact on hydro-biological parameters of aquatic ecosystems, biophysical impacts on the distribution of fishes, specific growth rate of fishes, maturity of fishes, reproductive integrity of fishes, breeding and recruitment of fishes and osmoregulation in migratory fishes, ocean acidification and coral bleaching, changes in oceanography and habitat destruction, disruption to precipitation and freshwater availability. The present paper describes historic reviews and present status of climate change impacts on fish and fisheries along with its adaptive measures.

Authors :
H. S. Mogalekar and P. Jawahar
Department of Fisheries Biology & Resource Management, Fisheries College & Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Fisheries University, Thoothukudi - 628 008, Tamil Nadu, India.

S. Ajidhaslin and T. Yuvaraj
Inspector of Fisheries, O/O Assistant Director of Fisheries Manimuthar-627 421, Tamil Nadu, India.