Lack of climate services puts Asia's aquaculture at risk: study

Currently, Asia produces more than 91 percent of the world’s aquaculture, with Bangladesh ranking fifth globally, following China, Indonesia, India, and Vietnam.

A recent study has shown that climate change could lead to a loss of around US$140 million over ten years for Asia’s aquaculture industry, especially for Bangladesh. This underlines the importance of having better climate data.

A study in Climate Risk Management expects that Bangladesh, which is highly susceptible to severe weather conditions, will experience these conditions more frequently shortly.

The study suggests that reliable climate-related information can help fish farmers minimize losses from such events. It highlights that floods cause the most financial damage to hatcheries, open-water fish, and shrimp, and these remain at risk at all times.

From 2011 to 2020, floods resulted in the loss of about 54,000 tonnes of aquaculture production, worth US$93 million. Cyclones were the second most destructive, causing a total loss of 12,000 tonnes of fish products valued at US$248 million.

The study suggests that climate information could help reduce climate-related risks to the aquaculture sector by aiding fish farmers in making climate-sensitive decisions and managing production processes.

These services offer climate data that can assist in making decisions related to adaptation, mitigation, and hazard management.

Climate services needed for sustainable aquaculture

The study reveals that countries in the Global South have been slow to adopt climate services for aquaculture. This is due to a lack of awareness about their economic benefits and the focus on using such services for crops.

Peerzadi Rumana Hussain, a scientist at WorldFish and the lead author of the study, stated that the success of climate services in aquaculture relies on support from policymakers.

Hussain mentioned that they have previously collaborated with the Bangladesh Fisheries Department to develop some policy-level proposals.

He suggested that climate information provided by the Bangladesh Meteorological Department could be disseminated through the Fisheries Department. This would assist the sector in offering advice and managing threats posed by the climate.

Hussain also emphasized that scaling up climate services on a large scale requires partnerships and investments from the private sector. This is crucial for maintaining digital platforms that provide climate-related information and advisory services to people across all value chains of aquatic food systems in the country.

In Bangladesh, fish and fish-based foods account for 60 percent of the total daily animal protein intake. This contributes significantly to the nutrition and food security of the country’s vulnerable and marginalized population.

Climate change impacts Bangladesh’s aquaculture sector

The study reveals that aquaculture and fisheries make up about 26% of Bangladesh’s agricultural GDP.

However, extreme weather events caused by climate change are increasingly impacting fish farmers. Meanwhile, the country's aquaculture sector has limited data on the effects of climate change, such as unpredictable rainfall, heatwaves, and cold spells. Experts say that this limited data makes assessing climate risk management strategies difficult.

Hossain and his fellow researchers noted fish losses in hatchery operations due to high temperatures and dry weather in southwestern Bangladesh.

Hossain mentioned that fish farmers told researchers that if they had known there would be no rain in June and temperatures would be so high (36 to 40 degrees Celsius), they could have planned the fingerling stocking period differently.

Sudhir Kumar Das, a professor of fisheries resource management at the West Bengal University of Animal and Fisheries Sciences, suggested that fisheries policy should aim to promote fisheries and aquaculture to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Das emphasized the need for proper management of fishery resources, focusing on the conservation of endangered fish species as well as environmental and social development in fisheries.

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