Climate change, fishing and aquaculture

To address the effects of climate changes on the fisheries sector, Mr. Samir Tayeb, Minister of Agriculture, Water Resources and Fisheries opened on Wednesday 6 February 2018 a workshop to present the results of the study relating to the impact of climate changes on sea-fisheries and aquaculture in Tunisia. The workshop was held at the presence of the Coordinator of the FAO Sub-Regional Office for North Africa in Tunisia.

The Minister expressed the will and the commitment of the Tunisian government and of the Ministry of Agriculture, Water Resources and Fisheries, to supporting fishing, aquaculture and the fishing industry workers, within its strategy aimed at ensuring food security, creating wealth and promoting economic growth and export development in order to improve fishworkers’ income.

The Minister of Agriculture also stressed that the impacts of climate change do not only affect Tunisia but the entire world and that they are clear and tangible for fisheries and aquaculture. They are actually the result of changes in the quality of sea water, the intensity and distribution of fish stocks and the emergence of exotic species in the Mediterranean. Local communities, which are highly dependent on fishing, are directly affected by the climate change.