Adapting Pacific Island Tuna Fisheries to Climate Change

The project aims to address the decline of coral reef fish and the climate-driven redistribution of tuna in the Pacific. It proposes a two-pronged approach: scaling up nearshore fish aggregating devices (FADs) to improve food security for coastal communities and establishing an early warning system (EWS) to help governments maintain industrial tuna revenues. The project targets eight countries and requests USD 116.5 million in grant funding from the Green Climate Fund.

• Climate change is expected to severely impact marine resources in the Pacific, with ocean warming and acidification projected to reduce coral cover by 50–75% and coral reef fish production by 20–50% by 2050.
• Ocean warming is predicted to shift the distribution of skipjack and yellowfin tuna eastward by 2050, potentially reducing tuna biomass by 25–40% for several western countries while increasing it by approximately 20% for two eastern countries.
• The redistribution of tuna poses a significant economic risk, as six Pacific Island nations—including Kiribati, Nauru, and Tuvalu—derive over 45% of their total government revenue from tuna fishing licence fees. A preliminary assessment suggests a potential annual loss of over $60 million in licence revenue across the region by 2050.
• To address food security gaps caused by reef degradation, the project will scale up nearshore fish aggregating devices (FADs) and provide training in safety-at-sea and post-harvest methods to help coastal communities transition to tuna fishing.
• The project will establish an early warning system (EWS) to model the response of individual tuna stocks to climate change, moving away from the assumption that each species forms a single stock across the basin.
• The total indicative cost of the project is USD 148 million, with USD 116.5 million requested as a grant from the Green Climate Fund and USD 31.5 million in co-financing.

APA

Green Climate Fund (2019). Adapting Pacific Island Tuna Fisheries to Climate Change. https://www.greenclimate.fund/sites/default/files/document/22230-adapting-pacific-island-tuna-fisheries-climate-change_0.pdf

Chicago

Green Climate Fund. Adapting Pacific Island Tuna Fisheries to Climate Change. 2019. https://www.greenclimate.fund/sites/default/files/document/22230-adapting-pacific-island-tuna-fisheries-climate-change_0.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Green Climate Fund |title=Adapting Pacific Island Tuna Fisheries to Climate Change |date=7 June 2019 |url=https://www.greenclimate.fund/sites/default/files/document/22230-adapting-pacific-island-tuna-fisheries-climate-change_0.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{greenclimatefund2019adapting, author = {{Green Climate Fund}}, title = {{Adapting Pacific Island Tuna Fisheries to Climate Change}}, institution = {Green Climate Fund}, year = {2019}, month = jun, url = {https://www.greenclimate.fund/sites/default/files/document/22230-adapting-pacific-island-tuna-fisheries-climate-change_0.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }