Development of indicators on the impacts on the fisheries sector of natural disasters and emergencies global

Food and Agricultural Organisation FAO - Project Dates:
January 2014 - June 2014

Description of Project:
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) wanted to develop a methodology to monitor damages and losses suffered by agriculture – including fisheries and aquaculture - and to publish regular reports taking stock of the main disastrous events that have affected agriculture around the world with a special emphasis on poor and fragile ecosystems and regions. The overall objective was to gain a more complete and comprehensive understanding of disaster impacts on the agriculture sectors and provide appropriate response.

The fisheries and aquaculture sectors are particularly vulnerable to disasters. Fishers tend to live and work in one of the most dynamic environment and prone disasters in the world. Aquaculture has registered spectacular growth in the last three decades but the great majority of aquaculture production is operated in open environment and relies on natural resources, resulting in high vulnerability to natural and manmade disasters and hazards. Climate change, amongst other factors, threatens the sector’s continued expansion and future sustainability. Drought and flooding can significantly affect the productivity of inland water bodies for fishing and impact on aquaculture production operations. While there are indications that disaster impacts are high on the fisheries and aquaculture sector, there are major gaps in data and information. Most national and international statistics do not include damage and loss indicators.

Poseidon provided expertise in fisheries and aquaculture to contribute to the development of relevant indicators and the institutionalization process of the FAO methodology on damage and loss, in particular by considering the benefits of accessing relevant data and information on damage and loss from different potential sources e.g. from empirical assessments such as Post Disaster Needs Assessments, from modelling, or a combination of both.