Impact of Climate Change on Indian Marine Fisheries andOptions for Adaptation

Marine capture fisheries have very important roles for food supply, food security and income generation in India. About one million people work directly in this sector, producing 3 million D tonnes annually. The value of fish catch at production leve1 is about US $ 2.8 bil1ion and India earns US 1.8 billion by exporting fish and fishery products. Being open access to a large extent, there is intense competition among he stakeholders with varied interests to share the limited resources in the coastal waters, which has resulted in overfishing and decline in stocks of a few species. Climate change is projected to exacerbate this situation and act as a depensatory factor on fish populations. Climate change will have strong impact on fisheries with far-reaching consequences for food and livelihood security of a sizeable section of the population