fisheries economics

photo: Marisa Garrido

A new study led by Rashid Sumaila (2009) describes how climate change will likely impact various aspects of the global fishing economy, including revenues, costs, jobs, incomes, and the availability of seafood to consumers. Solving the overfishing problem is fundamental, and reducing greenhouse-gas emissions would diminish the ecological impacts on fish stocks and thus minimize the economic effects. “We could be earning interest, but instead we’re fishing away the capital. Climate change is likely to cause more losses unless we choose to act,” says Sumaila.

A new World Bank study, authored with contributions by Rashid Sumaila (2009), predicts that global fisheries will likely lose $US 9.6 billion in revenues per year from 2050 due to climate change. Under one scenario described in a draft version of the report, developed countries could expect to lose US$ 2.6 billion per year, while developing countries could lose as much as US$ 7 billion. Fisheries are just one element of the study, which examines economic sectors where the total cost of adapting to climate change is predicted to be between US$ 75 and 100 billion for developing countries. Read additional coverage in Bloomberg, BBC, and Reuters Africa.