RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Climate-risk to European fisheries and coastal communities
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2020.08.03.234401
DO 10.1101/2020.08.03.234401
A1 Mark R. Payne
A1 Manja Kudahl
A1 Georg H. Engelhard
A1 Myron A. Peck
A1 John K. Pinnegar
YR 2020
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/08/04/2020.08.03.234401.abstract
AB With the majority of the global human population living in coastal regions, identifying the climate risk that ocean-dependent communities and businesses are exposed to is key to prioritising the finite resources available to support adaptation. Here we apply a climate-risk analysis across the European fisheries sector for the first time to identify the most at-risk fleets and sub-national regions. We combine a trait-based approach with ecological niche models to differentiate climate hazards between populations of fish and use them to assess the relative climate risk for 380 fishing fleets and 105 coastal regions in Europe. Countries in SE Europe and the UK have the highest risks to both their fishing fleets and their communities while, in other countries, the risk-profile is greatest at either the fleet or community level. These results reveal the diversity of challenges posed by climate-change to European fisheries: climate adaptation, therefore, needs to be tailored to each country’s and even each region’s specific situation. Our analysis supports this process by highlighting where adaptation measures are needed and could have the greatest impact.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.