Chennai: According to a report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in the Bay of Bengal, fishermen are facing unprecedented threats to their livelihood due to sea temperature, extreme weather events, extreme weather events and increasing cyclonic disturbances.
The three-day meeting, jointly organized by the FAO and the Inter-Governmental Organization of the Bengal program (BOBP -IGO), brought together to discuss climatic risks and mitigation strategies.
Director of BOBP P. Krishnan on Thursday highlighted the serious effects of climate change on sea fishing, submitting a report called ‘Disaster Risk and Climate Change Bob Area’.
“The same water that maintains millions of livelihood is now becoming more hostile and unexpected,” he said.
The report has shown that climate-inspired storms are reducing fishing days by 10–15 annually, while sea heatwaves are expected to reach 250 days per year by 2100, destroy fish shares and increase extreme weather events.
The report also warned of sea levels, growth and saline infiltration, except for coastal communities in the area among the most climate-promotable population in South Asia.
Poor access to insurance and low compliance with safety measures exposed fatal risks to fishermen.
Krishnan emphasized the immediate need to implement Bobsef, which is a regional plan on the safety and working conditions of fishermen developed by FAO and Bob-Igo and was supported in 2023.
Case studies were advocated in the meeting to restore mangroves, restore disaster-flexible fishing villages, launch climate-smart credit schemes, transfer erosion-prone communs and strengthen community-based initial warning systems.
Experts emphasized the importance of regional cooperation, shared climate-risk data platforms, and strong policy alignment under the United Nations voluntary guidelines to achieve sustainable small-scale fisheries (VG-SSF).
The meeting concluded on Friday, which aims to promote actionable strategies for the safety of millions of small fishermen, which are rapidly threatened by livelihood climate crisis.
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