How will climate change affect the demersal fisheries of the North Sea? : Using a bio-economic model to predict climate-induced changes in fisheries profitability and identify pathways to nature-inclusive harvesting strategies

Sulanke, Erik; Simons, Sarah L.

How will climate change affect the demersal fisheries of the North Sea? : Using a bio-economic model to predict climate-induced changes in fisheries profitability and identify pathways to nature-inclusive harvesting strategies

2023

Sulanke, Erik | Simons, Sarah L.

The consequences of climate change are showing significant effects on marine life. At the same time, human use of the marine realm steadily intensifies, and competition for space has been emerging in recent years. Fisheries are heavily affected by the aforementioned factors and are a central pressuring factor on marine habitats. Therefore, developing nature-inclusive harvesting strategies for fisheries with respect to their complexity is emergent. We applied the bio-economic optimization model FISHRENT to simulate the socio-economic consequences of climate change scenarios on the North Sea demersal fisheries. Demersal fisheries comprise an essential part of the fishing fleets operating in the North Sea. They range from small-scale coastal vessels to highly mechanized industrial trawlers and contribute a significant share of the fisheries revenue generated in the region. We assembled specific and extensive catch, effort, and cost data for those fleets, which allowed us to model changes not only in catch quantities but also in the cost structure of those fleets, e.g., increased fuel use due to longer steaming times.

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