Potential impacts, adaptation and vulnerability of fisheries to climate change: An Indian perspective

Abstract:

Climate change is one of the most important environmental challenges not only for India but also for other many countries impacting severely in various aspects of fisheries. Nearly 700 million rural populations of India directly depend on climatesensitive sectors (agriculture, forests and fisheries) and natural resources (such as freshwater, mangroves, coastal zones, grasslands and biodiversity) for their subsistence and livelihoods. This paper reviews existing knowledge with regard to the exposure of inland fisheries to climatic changes in India. Therefore, the paper discussed the development of vulnerability index for assessing climate vulnerability of inland fisheries and, the possible adaptation measures to combat these changes by the fisheries sector. Finally we identify major gaps in knowledge that needs to be bridged to allow effective management of inland fisheries towards the challenge of climate variability in the future.