A Prelimnary Survey on Perception of Turkish Aquaculture Stakeholders on Climate Change-Aquaculture Interactions

Climate change is expected to have direct and indirect impacts on aquaculture sector. Significant socio-economic role of aquaculture in terms of job and income generation as well as food security and economic development calls the need for a proactive approach for development of adaptation and mitigation policies towards climate change and aquaculture interactions. Awareness building and understanding the perceptions of aquaculture stakeholders regarding the impact of climate change on aquaculture are important pillars of developing adaptation and/or mitigation policies. This study is a preliminary assessment of Turkish aquaculture stakeholders’ perception regarding climate change-aquaculture interactions, which was carried out within the activities of EU funded CERES project (Climate Change and European Aquatic Resources). A semi-structured questionnaire developed by CERES project for this purpose was used to collect data through face to face interviews. For statistical analysis of the collected data, both descriptive and inferential methods were used. Majority of stakeholders participating in the survey believed that most of the performance parameters including feed conversion ratio (FCR), fish health, survival rate and production costs, will potentially be affected negatively by climate change.