Improved fishing practices and management

Although new innovations will likely also play a role, many improved technologies and management practices already exist (FAO 2022).

Not all management practices and technological interventions will be equally effective in specific contexts, and high implementation costs hinder the implementation of certain innovations at scale (FAO 2022).

While some beneficial technological improvements and management approaches can be relatively easily applied, others are more difficult to implement, for example due to high costs, or international political complexities around fishing rights.

As most studies around fisheries and climate change focus on potential adaptation strategies to the effects of warming oceans, many uncertainties remain around the potential role of the industry in mitigating the effects of climate change. McKuin and Campbell (2016) calculate that Arctic fisheries will emit 6.9 and 5.9 Tg CO2 equivalent GHG emissions per year from fuel combustion for 20 to 100 year time horizons respectively, but do not estimate how much of this could be mitigated. Although fishing vessels are an important contributor to Arctic black carbon (McKuin and Campbell 2016), and improved management practises and technologies can help reduce emissions regionally (Waldo et al. 2016; Merayo et al. 2018), the ultimate effects will likely be relatively minor in comparison to other sectors.

Parker et al (2018) revealed that fisheries were only responsible for 4% of total global emissions related to food production, and the FAO (2022) clearly notes that ‘[f]isheries and aquaculture make a minor contribution to global carbon emissions.’ Since technological improvements and better management practices would at best be able to mitigate a part of these emissions, the global potential of this measure will likely remain minimal.

The fishing sector will have to change anyway due to the effects of climate change, and certain management strategies could moreover increase catches and profits. However, many improvements can come with high costs (FAO 2022).

Environmental risks may be associated with imperfect application of fishing strategies and management strategies (Young et al., 2018).

There are concerns about the potential negative impacts of fisheries management changes on small-scale and indigenous fishing communities, as well as the potential for such changes to promote consolidation and concentration of fishing rights in the hands of a few large companies. However, well implemented technological and management changes will likely be beneficial for local communities.

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Most of these improvements would fall under local or regional governance and legal frameworks. However, as fishing regulation is also importantly regulated through international treaties, some of these issues would potentially be more difficult to implement. 

Although there is a vast literature on potential adaptation strategies of the fishing industry to the effects of climate change, the potential role of the sector in mitigating GHG emissions is very limited.