Abstract
Climate information services (CIS) are increasingly in demand to assist farmers in managing risks associated with climate variability and extremes experienced in food production. However, there are significant gaps in the availability and accessibility of these services, especially in aquatic food production in developing countries. In response, this study aims to generate the background knowledge for developing climate information and decision support services tailored for aquaculture farmers in Bangladesh. We surveyed 800 fish-farming households, interviewed 30 key informants, and conducted a systematic literature review to identify climate-sensitive operations and management decisions in aquaculture and to document fish-farmers' awareness of the relationships between climate variability and aquatic food production systems. We also sought to identify the lead time and communication method(s) needed to deploy forecasts effectively and prepare aquaculture farmers to act in response to the forecasts. A fish-farming activity calendar was developed that identified high temperature, cold spell, heavy rainfall, and dry spell events as key climatic phenomena affecting year-round aquaculture operations, including pond preparation and maintenance, fingerling stocking, grow-out management, and harvesting. We also identified five climate-sensitive management decision points and 26 potential advisories in line with specific climate variability to manage induced risks in the day-to-day operations of fish farmers. Finally, the research team developed a decision framework based on the temperature and rainfall thresholds for the grow-out phase of four widely cultivated and economically important fish species in Bangladesh. This innovative decision support approach is to our knowledge the very first endeavor to develop CIS using species-specific temperature and rainfall thresholds to reduce climate risks and ensure resilience capacity for South Asian aquaculture system.
Highlights
Bangladesh is one of the most suitable countries for aquatic food production in the world, given its large inland freshwater (45,000 km2) and marine water bodies (Ghose, 2014; Shamsuzzaman et al, 2017)
Thirty to 65% of farmers surveyed had more than 10 years of experience in fish production (Figure 4A); 63– 91% of farmers acknowledged that they had no formal training in aquaculture (Figure 4B)
As highlighted in the Introduction, no Climate information services (CIS) system is currently available for aquaculture in South Asian countries that provides actionable species-specific advisories for aquatic farmers based on weather forecasts and thresholds
Summary
Bangladesh is one of the most suitable countries for aquatic food production in the world, given its large inland freshwater (45,000 km2) and marine water bodies (Ghose, 2014; Shamsuzzaman et al, 2017). The country has been identified as the second most climatically vulnerable country in Asia for freshwater aquaculture and is marked as having the lowest adaptive capacity for brackish water production due to an expected increase in climate variability and frequency of extreme weather events due to global climate change (Barange et al, 2018) These climate stresses impact aquatic food production in multiple ways, such as high water temperatures exceeding the physiological tolerance level of fish species, sudden temperature fluctuations leading to fish mortality, and erratic or intense rainfall events causing harvest losses, which are among the challenges facing aquatic food production systems
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
