Impact du changement climatique sur les ressources halieutiques. Réponse à une demande d’expertise

This report analyses the effects of climate change on French fishery resources and the responses developed to adapt their management. Ocean warming, acidification and deoxygenation are altering plankton productivity, and the physiology and distribution of exploited species, leading to latitudinal shifts of communities and an expected decline in global fisheries productivity of 10 to 30% by 2100. In response to these changes, fisheries management tools are evolving to incorporate the variability and non-stationarity of ecosystems, but more often implicitly than through the explicit inclusion of environmental variables. Mechanistic approaches and management strategy simulations (MSEs) are promising tools for quantifying climate effects and adapting reference points and harvest control rules for fisheries sustainability. The research projects carried out by Ifremer and its partners – both in mainland France and overseas – illustrate this dynamic of knowledge progress, combining observation, experimentation and modelling. This work contributes directly to the implementation of ecosystem-based and adaptive fisheries management, in support of national and European public policies for adaptation to climate change.