Climate Change Impacts on Aquaculture Systems in Key Producing Nations: Assessing Vulnerability and Proposing a Novel Adaptation Measure

Abstract

Climate change poses a significant threat to the aquaculture industry, impacting both the productivity and sustainability of this vital sector. This study focuses on the vulnerability of the top aquaculture producing nations to climate change and explores potential novel adaptation strategy. The vulnerability assessment considered various factors, including the exposure of aquaculture systems to climate change, Productivity of the industry, climate change initiators and the GDP of each nation surveyed. The study identifies the United Kingdom (UK) aquaculture as the most vulnerable and at risk of climate change impacts followed by the United States of America (USA) and Nigeria’s aquaculture. In terms of continents, Europe, Oceania, and Africa are identified as the most vulnerable regions, while America and Asia are considered the least vulnerable. The UK, with its extensive aquaculture operations and geographical exposure to climate change risks, faces significant challenges in adapting to changing conditions especially with the exit from European Union (Brexit). The USA, another major aquaculture producer, also faces vulnerability due to its diverse range of climatic conditions and coastal aquaculture operations. Nigeria, a prominent aquaculture producer in Africa, is highly vulnerable to climate change due to its dependence on freshwater aquaculture systems leading to low water usage in aquaculture despite vast marine water resource. Strict measures including novel adaptation measure such as the NanoSolar technique must be put in place in these countries in other to ensure that aquaculture production doesn’t decline and also to ensure that global food security is not put under pressure with the growing world population size.