Data_Sheet_1_An Assessment of How Australian Fisheries Management Plans Account for Climate Change Impacts.pdf

For Australian fisheries to remain productive and sustainable (environmentally and commercially), there is a need to incorporate climate change considerations into management and planning, and to implement planned climate adaptation options. Here, we determine the extent to which Australian state fisheries management documents consider issues relating to climate change, as well as how frequently climate change is considered a research funding priority within fisheries research in Australia. We conduct a content analysis of fisheries management documents investigating categories and themes relating to Australian state fisheries, climate, and environmental change. We also reviewed recent Research Priorities from the major fisheries research funding body for reference to climate change related themes, and the number of subsequently funded projects which considered climate change or related topics. Results show that commercial state fisheries management documents consider climate only to a limited degree in comparison to other topics, with less than one-quarter of all fisheries management documents having content relating to climate. However, we find that the south-east and south-west regions of the Australian coastline have the highest incorporation of “climate” and “environmental protection considerations” in their fisheries management documents, and that fisheries are more likely to have more “climate-related mentions” within their related management documents, if they (i) primarily target species with higher economic commercial catch values, (ii) commercial catch weights, or (iii) a greater number of commercial fish stocks existing. Only a small number of recently funded fisheries research projects considered climate change, representing only a small proportion of fisheries research investment. Given the extensive climate-driven impacts recently documented among key Australian fisheries species and associated ecosystems, we conclude that there is a clear need for fisheries management in Australia to consider longer-term climate adaptation strategies for Australian commercial state fisheries to remain sustainable into the future. We suggest that without additional climate-related fisheries research and funding, many Australian agencies and fisheries may not be prepared for the impacts and subsequent adaptation efforts required for sustainable fisheries under climate change.

为保持澳大利亚渔业的产能与可持续性（环境与商业双重角度），有必要将气候变化因素纳入管理与规划之中，并实施既定的气候适应策略。本研究旨在评估澳大利亚各州渔业管理文件对气候变化相关问题的考量程度，以及气候变化在澳大利亚渔业研究资金分配中的优先级。通过对渔业管理文件的内容分析，我们探讨了与澳大利亚州级渔业、气候及环境变化相关的类别与主题。此外，我们还审阅了主要渔业研究资金机构发布的近期研究优先事项，以了解与气候变化相关主题的提及情况，以及随后资助的项目数量。结果显示，与其它议题相比，商业性州级渔业管理文件对气候因素的考量较为有限，其中不到四分之一的渔业管理文件涉及气候相关内容。然而，我们发现澳大利亚东南部和西南部海岸线的渔业管理文件在“气候”及“环境保护考量”方面的融入程度最高，并且当渔业（i）主要针对具有较高经济商业捕捞价值物种，（ii）商业捕捞量，或（iii）更多商业鱼群存在时，其管理文件中“气候相关提及”的可能性更大。近期资助的渔业研究项目中，仅有少数考虑了气候变化，这仅代表了渔业研究投资的一小部分。鉴于近期记录的关键澳大利亚渔业物种及其相关生态系统所遭受的广泛气候驱动影响，我们得出结论，澳大利亚渔业管理必须考虑长期气候适应策略，以确保商业性州级渔业在未来能够保持可持续性。我们建议，在没有更多气候相关渔业研究和资金支持的情况下，许多澳大利亚机构和渔业可能无法为气候变化下的可持续渔业所需的影响和适应措施做好准备。