Predicting Future Oceans: Climate Change, Oceans & Fisheries
Growing concern over the impacts of global environmental changes on the state of the future oceans and their capacity to produce seafood
A report entitled “Predicting Future Oceans: Climate Change, Oceans & Fisheries” newly released by the Nereus program, an international interdisciplinary research program aimed at predicting future oceans, suggests that future seafood supply in the world will be substantially altered by climate change, overfishing and habitat destruction if we do not take actions.
In preparation to the COP21 in Paris in December this year where negotiation on limits to greenhouse gas emissions will happen, this report is very timely in highlighting how climate change will affect the sustainability of global marine fisheries in the 21st century.
The key findings from the first four years of the program are released today in the Future Ocean Research Report 2015. The primary focus of the report is on the interactions between greenhouse gas emissions, oceans and the world’s fisheries. It aims to provide a concise overview of what’s happening in the oceans and with fish right now and what will be happening in the future. The report consists of seven sections, each representing a key statement of future oceans and the latest findings from the selected studies of the Nereus Program.
To apply the knowledge generated by the Nereus Program responsible, in ecosystem-based and precautionary management, the report identifies six strategies that can be used to address immediate challenges to the sustainability of marine living resources, with a particular emphasis on fisheries.
The Netherlands Institute for the Law of the Sea (NILOS) of Utrecht University as a partner to the Nereus Program is responsible for formulating legal responses that will allow to implement the six identified strategies at the global and regional level.
About the Nereus Program
The Nereus Program is an interdisciplinary ocean research initiative established in 2011 by the Nippon Foundation and the University of British Columbia. It is a partnership of eight institutions: the Nippon Foundation, University of British Columbia, the University of Cambridge, Duke University, Princeton University, Stockholm University, United Nations Environmental Program-World Conservation Monitoring Centre and Utrecht University. The Program is built on three core objectives: to conduct collaborative research across the natural and social sciences to better understand the future of global oceans; to develop a network of experts that can engage in discussion of complex and multifaceted questions surrounding ocean sustainability; and to transfer these concepts to practical solutions in global policy forums.