Is hard to read some papers some days… while I’m trying to wrap my head around the GDST standards, GS!, and the lot... I decided to read this paper “Climate change, tropical fisheries and prospects for sustainable development” (written by quite a few well-known names), to see if it aligns with other papers I read and blogged about.
is not them the real problem… is us
And when you read: the combined catch of both tuna species is projected to decrease by ~10–40% by 2050 in the exclusive economic zones of Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tokelau and Tuvalu… is hard to swallow... I work with friends in all those countries
That is enough to disbalance the weekend, and made me question my self on what I’m doing?
Is already hard to deal with the IUU issues that are my work, yet they are quite minimal in terms of political clout in comparison… so the reversion of the drivers of climate change ain’t going to change anytime soon.
The demise of commercial tuna fisheries in the WCPO is not on the greedy and terrible fisherman as the usual narrative goes on or the lack of effort of the Pacific Island countries. Is on the worldwide medium and above social class almost insatiable hunger for more energy, cars, goods etc… while the cost of their greed is paid by those that don’t have those goods and facilities.
So yeah… have a read on the paper and let’s look deep into ourselves… because this one is on us.
I just quote there the box for the pacific…
Across the 22 Pacific Island countries and territories (PICTs), models predict an eastern redistribution in the biomass of skipjack and yellowfin tuna — the two main exported fish species — by 2050). Under Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 8.5, for example, the combined catch of both tuna species is projected to decrease by ~10–40% by 2050 in the exclusive economic zones of Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tokelau and Tuvalu However, given the eastern redistribution, tuna catch is anticipated to increase in the exclusive economic zones of Kiribati and Cook Islands by 15–20%
As several PICTs are tuna-dependent economies, the impact of climate change on tuna fisheries increases the vulnerability of these small island developing states. For instance, shifts in tuna distribution, and resulting increases in catches from international waters, are expected to cause proportional changes in government revenue received by small island developing states from fishing licence fees. These changes need to be considered by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission when governing the sustainable use of the region’s tuna resources, developing harvest strategies and allocating fishing rights to minimize the implications of tuna redistribution for island economies.
The projected 20–50% decrease in productivity of coral reef fish in the Pacific Islands region by 2050 under RCP8.5 is expected to influence the contributions of small-scale fisheries to food security in most PICTs However, rapid population growth in several PICTs is expected to have a greater influence than declining reef fish production on future availability of fish per capita. The rich tuna resources of the Pacific Islands region can be used to fill the widening gap between the total amount of fish that can be harvested sustainably from coral reefs and other coastal habitats, and that required for good nutrition.