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Climate change and adaptive capacity in fisheries management: the case of Norway

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Abstract

Climate variability and change drive changes in marine ecosystems, such as growth in and geographic distribution of living marine resources. Mitigating measures in response to anthropogenic climate change are insufficient, and more attention must be directed toward adaptation to climate change. In the management of living marine resources, successful management will rest on the capacity of management regimes to be adaptive and flexible. This article addresses the management of living marine resources, and how management regimes cope with change and bolster the resilience of ecosystems. Experiences from the Norwegian management regime for living marine resources are used to illustrate how an existing regime can respond to change. We conclude that management regimes with sufficient capacity, in terms of robust science, regulatory frameworks that contribute to reduced fishing effort and maintenance of sustainable stock levels, and enforcement capability, are more likely to respond adequately to the challenges posed by climate change than those that do not.

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Notes

  1. In the Central Arctic Ocean, in comparison, commercial fisheries are almost nonexistent (Zeller et al. 2011).

  2. http://www.fiskeridir.no/fiskeridir/statistikk/fiskeri/noekkeltall. Accessed August 18, 2012.

  3. Transboundary fish stocks are usually divided into “shared” stocks that are found in the waters under the jurisdiction of two (or more) countries, but not on the high seas beyond national jurisdiction. “Straddling” stocks are found both in areas beyond and inside national jurisdiction.

  4. See http://www.ices.dk/indexfla.asp.

  5. The annual decision-making cycle regarding regulations are accounted for at the web site of the Ministry of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs: http://www.fisheries.no/resource_management/setting_quotas/The-regulatory-chain-/.

  6. The enforcement system is accounted for at the web site of the Ministry of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs: http://www.fisheries.no/resource_management/control_monitoring_surveillance/.

  7. See the Marine Stewardship Council Web site: http://www.msc.org/track-a-fishery/certified/north-east-atlantic.

  8. See www.ices.dk For cod, for example, go to: http://www.ices.dk/committe/acom/comwork/report/2011/2011/cod-arct.pdf.

  9. http://www.imr.no/tokt/okosystemtokt_i_barentshavet/nb-no.

  10. The allocation key is heavily slanted toward conventional gears like gillnets, line, and Danish seine. About one-third of the Norwegian share of the TAC is allocated to trawlers, the rest to conventional gears.

  11. http://www.fiskeridir.no/statistikk/fiskeri/fiskere-fartoey-og-tillatelser/opplysninger-om-den-aktive-fiskeflaaten.

  12. Technical regulations are collected in an omnibus enabling law; Forskrift av 22. desember 2004 nr 1878 om utøvelse av fisket i sjøen, which runs to more than 50 pages of detailed measures.

  13. 2008 Lov om forvaltning av viltlevende marine ressurser. At: http://www.lovdata.no/all/hl-20080606-037.html.

  14. The time series for ocean temperatures in the Barents Sea, for example, is about one hundred years old.

  15. http://www.neafc.org/scheme.

  16. A global agreement on port state measures was agreed in 2009, but it has not entered into force.

  17. Resolution adopted by the General Assembly: Sustainable fisheries, including through the 1995 Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks, and related instruments. A/RES/62/177.

Abbreviations

EEZ:

Exclusive economic zone

FAO:

Food and agriculture organization

ICES:

International Council for the Sea

IUU:

Illegal, unregulated, and unreported

NEAFC:

Northeast Atlantic Fisheries Commission

TAC:

Total allowable catch

UN:

United Nations

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Acknowledgments

This work has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme under grant agreement number 226248—Arctic Tipping Points (ATP). We thank our colleagues in the ATP team for inspiration and good discussions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. BFE-fak, University of Tromsø, 9037, Tromsø, Norway

    Øistein Harsem

  2. Institute of Marine Research, PO box 6404, 9294, Tromsø, Norway

    Alf Håkon Hoel

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Correspondence to Øistein Harsem.

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Harsem, Ø., Hoel, A.H. Climate change and adaptive capacity in fisheries management: the case of Norway. Int Environ Agreements 13, 49–63 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10784-012-9199-5

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