Risk Management of Marine Capture Fisheries under Climate Change: Taking into Consideration the Effects of Uncertainty

Abstract

Multiple changes in marine resources (e.g., abundance, movements, distribution, biomass) caused by climate change are critical operational risks, leading to production uncertainty for capture fisheries. Therefore, risk management measures of coastal and offshore fisheries are critical issues in terms of operational sustainability. In this study, a questionnaire survey data set collected from fishers was analyzed using descriptive statistics, factor analysis, and a structural equation model (SEM) to examine fishers’ perceptions and the relationships among risk sources, production uncertainty, and adaptation measures. The results revealed that significant negative impacts existed between risk sources and adaptation measures, which means risk sources cannot directly influence risk management measure selection. However, production uncertainty could be an important mediator for risk management, thus most respondents think that mitigating production uncertainty is necessary. Eventually, the results could provide managerial implications for the fishery operators, policymakers and the government agencies.