Climate change hits fishing economies

Eight countries - four in Africa and four in Asia - have been identified as those most economically vulnerable to the effects of climate change on fisheries in the first ever detailed study of the subject.

The most badly hit countries are those where fish play a large role in diet, income and trade, and also lack the capacity to adapt to the impact of climate change such as the loss of coral reef habitats to the bleaching effect of warmer waters, and lakes parched by an increase in heat and a decrease in rainfall.

The study was conducted by a team of scientists from the WorldFish Center in Malaysia, the University of of East Anglia, Simon Fraser University, the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, the University of Bremen, and the Mekong River Commission, which examined 132 economies.

To find out more about the most vulnerable countries:
http://www.worldfishcenter.org/wfcms/HQ/article.aspx?ID=223

IRIN