| Summary: | Invited Speaker Climate change is already affecting aquaculture production through changes in seasonality of weather patterns, increasing sea levels, warming and increased extreme events leading to unpredictable production. Most aquaculture is undertaken either in freshwater or in the marine coastal fringe by small scale producers in Asia which makes aquaculture very susceptible to climate change. Unlike most terrestrial animals, all cultured aquatic species are poikilothermic, meaning their body temperatures vary with the ambient temperature. Therefore climate change-induced temperature variations will have a much stronger impact aquaculture activities and on their productivity and yields. Increased temperatures will affect fish physiological processes resulting in both positive and negative effects on fisheries and aquaculture systems. Small scale aquaculture producers in Asia are already noting changes in the intensity, frequency and seasonality of climate patterns (e.g. early/late rains) and extreme events (e.g. floods, droughts, storms). Sea level rise and increasing tidal fluctuation in some area is leading to saline intrusion of freshwater areas, and together with storm surge coastal erosion and is causing damage to marine and brackish water pond culture systems. Freshwater acidification has already been felt from acid rain and increasing ocean acidification will have consequences on shellfish and crustacean production. Changes in precipitation, groundwater and river flows will significantly affect freshwater aquaculture production. Climate change is already affecting the seasonality of particular biological processes, radically altering marine and freshwater food webs, with unpredictable consequences for wild fisheries which aquaculture is particularly dependant on for production of fishmeal and fish oil and for capture based aquaculture. Small scale aquaculture producers are vulnerable to these changes and although these communities have adapted to change throughout history, projected climate change ...
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