Abstract
Coastal and terrestrial fisheries communities in Europe, often economically marginalised, are likely to face severe impacts as climate change becomes more acute. Although progress on climate mitigation and adaptation from national governments remains slow, local development actions can also address these impacts from the bottom up. In this paper we analyse the Fisheries and Sea Operational Programme 2014–2020 and 36 Local Development Strategies prepared within the framework of this programme for the case of Poland. The strategies, which were prepared by cross-sectoral, area-based partnerships known as Fisheries Local Action Groups, are analysed using a content analysis approach. The aim was to assess the degree to which local stakeholders sought to address the climate challenge. We found that the mitigation of climate impacts and the development of renewable energy did not feature prominently in the analysed documents, suggesting that both central policymakers and local stakeholders in Polish fisheries regions had a low level of awareness about the climate problem and their potentially important role in addressing it. Transformation to a post-carbon society undoubtedly requires additional, targeted support and extensive educational activities at the local level, in Poland and elsewhere.
Highlights
Coastal and terrestrial regions, which derive a significant share of their income from fisheries and aquaculture, have frequently struggled as a result of the diminishing importance of the fisheries sector to national economies (e.g., [? ]), something that is a particular problem in Europe [? ]
In Section ?? we briefly describe the kinds of climate changes (CC) mitigation and adaptation actions that could be implemented at local level in the fisheries regions analysed
The implementation of local development strategies under the Fisheries and Sea Operational Programme (FSOP) assumed the possibility of co-financing operations related to activities in the field of [? ]: 1. Adding value to products, creating jobs, encouraging young people, and promoting innovation at all stages of the product supply chain in the fisheries and aquaculture sector; 2
Summary
Coastal and terrestrial regions, which derive a significant share of their income from fisheries and aquaculture, have frequently struggled as a result of the diminishing importance of the fisheries sector to national economies (e.g., [? ]), something that is a particular problem in Europe [? ]. ]), something that is a particular problem in Europe [? As a result, they are often considered to be marginalised areas, receiving additional support from public funds [? ] pose an additional threat to the resources and livelihood of these regions [? In land areas of Europe, climate changes (CC) may involve the loss or decline of natural and artificial water sources, the intensification of sudden meteorological phenomena (e.g., floods after periods of drought), changes in the species composition of fish, their predators and pathogens, inter alia [? ]. As a result, fishing regions may be more vulnerable to CC than inland urban areas that do not rely on farming or fishing activities [?
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