Climate change threatens fish stocks, warn experts
Climate change will adversely affect fish catch around major water bodies in the African continent, experts warned yesterday.
According to the African Union-Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU_IBAR), fish catch mainly in oceans around the continent is expected to drop sharply in the coming years impacting negatively on thousands of families.
The bureau said rising temperatures in the oceans have adverse effects on the ecosystem of the water bodies.
AU-IBAR programme manager Dr Clement Adjorlolo said oceans were becoming warmer by the day, a move that was adversely affecting various species.
He spoke during the inception meeting on conserving the aquatic biodiversity in African blue-economy in Naivasha.
Adjorlolo noted that this had been worsened by the rising levels of the water-bodies because of the massive melting of ice and high tides caused by climate change.
“As the water temperatures rise, this has forced some species to relocate and this will have negative implications on fish catch in the coming days,” he said.
Mohammed Seisay, a senior fisheries officer in AU-IBAR, said the current challenges facing the aquatic bodies were human made.
He pointed to environmental degradation, carbon emissions and pollution as some of the challenges that were contributing to climate-change and a drop in fish catch.
AU-IBAR acting-director dr Nick Nkwakpa said that they were keen to develop the capacity of member countries to enable them reap fully from the blue-economy.
