Climate Change and the Economic Performance of Indonesian Fisheries: Evidence, Adaptation, and Research Priorities

Abstract

This study conducted a systematic literature review to examine the economic impacts of climate change on Indonesian capture fisheries, the adaptation strategies implemented by fishers, and existing knowledge gaps in the literature. Publications from 2015 to 2025 indexed in Scopus and Google Scholar were analyzed, resulting in a final selection of 34 relevant articles. The findings indicate that climate change has significantly affected fisheries through reductions in fish catches, declining catch per unit effort, and unstable household income, with key climatic drivers including sea surface temperature anomalies, El Nino–Southern Oscillation, Indian Ocean Dipole, marine heatwaves, and extreme weather events. Fishers have implemented various economic adaptation strategies, such as income diversification, gear modification, shifting fishing grounds, and community-level risk management, yet their effectiveness is constrained by operational costs, technological limitations, and uneven access to information. Despite growing research, major knowledge gaps remain, including a lack of national-scale economic valuation, limited micro-level studies at the community or household level, insufficient assessment of adaptation cost-effectiveness, and inadequate integration of climate scenarios with economic modeling. Addressing these gaps is essential for developing evidence-based, context-specific policies that enhance the resilience and livelihoods of fisheries-dependent communities in Indonesia. The study emphasizes the need for integrated, multi-scale approaches combining ecological, economic, and policy dimensions to inform sustainable fisheries management under climate change.