| dc.description.abstract | The present study was conducted with coastal communities of south-eastern Bangladesh
depends on fish and fisheries for their livelihood. With the objectives to understand the
impacts of climate change on fisheries-dependent communities and their adaptation to
climate change impacts, yearlong study conducted from January to December 2013 was
candied out using both qualitative and quantitative methods. Most of the respondents reported
that fisheries resources were affected in terms of less diversity in composition and availability
and reduction in size, alternation of habitat and changes in migration route. The intensity of
extreme rough sea events has increased as opined by 91.6% of the interviewees,
simultaneously decreased the fishing opportunity by 61.6%. Climatic extreme incidents pose
various threats to aquaculture system for instance, entrance of pathogen and predator into
farm (30%), environmental pollution and water quality problem (25%), flooded with infected
water (22%), increase pollution (15%) other (8%). Fish processing industries can use only
(23%) of their total capacity due to insufficient supply of raw fish. Another important sector,
ice industries were victimized from scarcity of pure water that forced them to produce poor
quality ice that in turn increases the production cost. Both physical and social well-being of
the fisherfolk is negatively affected and become more vulnerable in terms of increased rough
sea episodes as fishers are killed, injured, their properties are wiped out. Respondents
perceived that these events affect houses (43.3%), fishing materials (30%), communication
(16.70%) and institution (10%). Climate changes impacts on the health status are severe as
well which are further compounded by unhygienic environment, lack of consciousness about
health and scarcity of pure water that lead to fisherfolk to suffer from immunity degradation,
health hazards like diarrhea, cholera and viral disease, eye inflammation (sunken eye,
hypoglycemia) or even die. Overall, climate changes and its associate impacts reduce
livelihoods and income opportunities for fishermen, labor relevant to fish drying and fish
processing industry that further reduced their adaptive capacity. Nevertheless affected
communities are creating their own ways to cope with hazardous climatic events. These
adaptation strategies include changing fishing ground, intensifying fishing efforts in
favorable seasons, changing occupation and migration. However, these strategies are not
good enough to lead sustainable livelihood that require intervention from government and
civil societies to make resilient fishing community in coastal Bangladesh. | en_US |
