Climate change adaptation in fisheries management

Question 1

What three things are needed to manage fish with changing distributions?

Answer 1

1. Understand the change in distribution
2. Measure changes in vital rates
3. Undertake stock assessments at the appropriate scale
   (Link et al 2011)

Question 2

What are the three management alternatives for fish with changing distributions?

Answer 2

1. re-evaluate stock identification
2. re-evaluate stock unit area
3. Implement spatially explicit modelling
   (Link et al 2011)

Question 3

Why is a MHW hazard index useful?

Answer 3

It is biologically meaningful as opposed to anomalies. For instance a winter MHW might be positive for species and not cause an issue, but a summer anomaly might be negative, and therefore be a hazard if the temperatures are beyond thermal tolerances.

Also, the index can be different for different areas to reflect different species tolerances based on geographical differences.

(Katjar et al 2014 )

Question 4

How often will marine heat waves (like those of 2015/16) occur in Tasmania under a low emissions scenario and a high emissions scenario?

Answer 4

Under a low emissions scenario it will occur 1 in every 5 years.
Under a high emissions scenario it will occur 1 in every 2 years.
(Katjar et al 2014 )

Question 5

Why do stocks (Hake) with climate-mediated stock redistribution present a management challenge and what management is needed?

Answer 5

Impacts of climate change on stock varied by area and harvest controls rules. Therefore management needs to incorporate spatial dynamics and climate change effects to mitigate risks.
(Jacobsen et al 2022)

Question 6

Describe the state of play in accounting for climate change in Australian fisheries management plans? How does WA fair?

Answer 6

• Fisheries with larger catches of higher value had more mentions of climate change in their management documents
• WA had 30 documents, 2 mentioned climate change, 24 mentioned environment, 4 did not mention climate change or environment.

(Fogarty et al 2020)

Question 7

What impact is climate change projected to have on species distribution in WA? How fast will it change?

Answer 7

There will be a southward range expansion of ~19km per decade based on surface temperatures and species will move 9m deeper per decade based on sub-surface temperature.
There will be a general topicalization down the coast
(Cheung et al 2012)

Question 8

What are the three phases that need to be moved through for effective adaptation of management of the marine environment to climate change? Describe each stage?

Answer 8

1. Pre-conditioning
2. Future proofing
3. Transformation and opportunity

(Creighton et al 2016)

Question 9

What are the 4 parts of the pre-conditioning phase of effective adaptation of management of marine environment to climate change?

Answer 9

1. Policy and management need to respond to changing social-ecological conditions, so interventions must be flexible and adaptive.
2. Action for climate adaptation must be part of larger social and economic adaptations to changing circumstances.
3. Climate policy should be implemented as part of integrative, multi-objective policy and management.
4. In responding through management interventions to changing social-ecological system interactions, it is essential to include climate influences.

(Creighton et al 2016)

Question 10

What are the 5 parts of the future proofing phase of effective adaptation of management of marine environment to climate change?

Answer 10

1. Fostering resilient healthy ecosystems is an imperative for policy and management.
2. Policy and management must address spatial and temporal scales that match the values and issues of concern.
3. Catchment management is essential for positive marine outcomes.
4. In responding to threatening processes, it is essential to ensure ecosystem integrity.
5. In protecting key species, site- and species-specific strategies are essential

(Creighton et al 2016)

Question 11

What are the 4 parts of the transformation and opportunity phase of effective adaptation of management of marine environment to climate change?

Answer 11

1. Changes brought about by a changing climate must be assessed for beneficial opportunities.
2. In responding to increased climate variability and change, a transition towards flexible total stock or population management systems is essential.
3. Policy and management must take advantage of the key role marine ecosystems can have in carbon sequestration.
4. Carbon sequestration in marine systems is best done as part of a multi-objective approach.

(Creighton et al 2016)

Question 12

What did Fogarty et al 2019 find out about the state of the level of knowledge to support climate adaptation for Australian fisheries? (4 points)

Answer 12

• of 99 species, 2/3rds had no primary research
• The primary driver of research was weight of catch (45% of weight of influence) and the number of commercial fish stock (35% of weight of influence)
  -More research had been undertaken in south-east and west
  -Most research was of observed changes, not projections

Question 13

From US literature, name and describe the 8 key principles that are best practice for climate change adaptation in fisheries management based on a workshop in the US?

Answer 13

1. Map out management process and organizational structure to identify climate-related information onramps.
   
   • This shows how climate change data can be included.
2. Work smarter not harder: frame climate considerations within exiting Council mandates and processes.
   
   • This means you don’t have to change the whole system as climate change stuff gets more support when it supports or works in the existing system
3. Strategically incorporate qualitative information to deal with uncertainty and stochasticity
   
   • Qualitative approaches are more rapid than quantitative approaches
   • Useful for data poor fisheries
   • Useful when an extreme event has no analog, i.e. it has never happened before
4. Start happy: pilot initiatives with healthy or lower-risk stocks
   
   • Pilot climate change initiatives where you are less likely to face backlash
5. Engage stakeholders early and often
   
   • this builds trust and ownership
   • it is maintained through an iterative approach
6. Emphasize local priorities: communicate climate considerations in terms of stakeholders’ experiences
   
   • Climate change related information is more useable when managers and stakeholders see it as salient, timely, credible and legitimate
7. Employ structured processes to keep initiatives on track.
   
   • Without it, the whole thing will get derailed by politics or become too abstract to be management
   • Maybe this is the role of the SAP
8. Leverage collaborative research to build trust and overcome capacity constraints

(Mason et al 2023)

Question 14

What are 4 challenges to best practice for climate change adaptation in fisheries management based on a workshop in the US?

Answer 14

1. Limited resources, capacity, and staff
2. Aligning timescales (science and peer review process with management with timing of stock assessments)
3. Cross-jurisdictional challenges
4. Integrating social science information to promote social-ecological resilience as initiatives move from concept to implementation

(Mason et al 2023)

Question 15

What is genetic tropicalisation?

Answer 15

It is a shift in frequency of alleles to those more common in tropical parts of a species distribution.

(Coleman et al. 2020)

Question 16

How did the 2011 marine heatwave impact kelp forests in WA?

Answer 16

1. Extirpation of the species at lower latitudes
2. Loss of canopy
3. Change in frequency of alleles at northern end of the range

(Coleman et al 2020)

Question 17

What two mechanisms were behind the genetic tropicalisation of kelp in WA after he 2011 marine heatwave?

Answer 17

1. Loss of canopy and survival of the specimens with the tropical alleles
2. Stronger Leeuwin current may have increased spread of the reproductive material with warm water alleles further south.