Stronger adaptive response among small-scale fishers experiencing greater climate change hazard exposure

Abstract

Progressive climate-driven environmental changes are threatening the global livelihoods of small-scale fishers, yet how their adaptation responses vary in relation to hazard exposure is poorly understood. We use a systematic review approach to identify a global data set of 301 reported adaptation responses (remaining, adaptive, and transformative) of small-scale fishers to climate change and analyse their spatial agreement with estimated geographical location of global coastal hotspot areas for specific climate change hazards associated to those responses (long-term trends in sea surface temperature, cumulative intensity of marine heatwaves, frequency of tropical storms, and intensity of associated storm surges). Only 37% of responses were found in climate change hotspots. Despite this, our results evidence that fishers are responding more passively in areas with lower exposure levels to abrupt climatic events. The relative proportion of adaptive and transformative responses increase with climate change hazard exposure.