Abstract
Coastal communities and small-scale fisheries are highly vulnerable to climate change. In this study, we aimed to examine fishers’ decisions to adapt to climate change and their expectations for their children to pursue the same profession. Data were obtained from fisher households covering 8 districts and 22 sub-districts in the coastal area of Chumphon Province, Thailand, using participatory observation, focus group discussion, and in-person field surveys. A binary logistic regression model was used to determine factors influencing the fishers’ decisions and their expectations for their children to inherit their occupation. Results showed that the fishers are aware of the increasing trends in air temperature, sea water temperature, inland precipitation, offshore precipitation, and storms. Increased fishing experience and fishing income increased the likelihood of the fishers applying adaptations to climate change. Looking to the future, fishers with high fishing incomes expect their children to pursue the occupation, whereas increased fishing experience, non-fishing incomes, and perceptions of storms likely discourage them from expecting their children to be fishers. Of the fishers interviewed, 58.06% decided to apply adaptations in response to climate change by incorporating climate-smart agriculture, particularly by cultivating rubber, oil palm, and orchards as a second income source. The adoption of climate-smart fisheries should be considered in relation to the body of local knowledge, as well as the needs and priorities of the fisher community. To cope with the impacts of current and future climate change on coastal communities, the national focal point of adaptation should be climate change, and related governmental agencies should pay more attention to these key factors for adaptation.
Highlights
Coastal regions around the globe are dynamic, and they are vulnerable to climate change impacts that result from the density of the population and development projects in near coastal areas
The results showed that the fishers had different levels of perception of climate change impacts: believe climate change has led to increases in air temperature (82.50%), sea water temperature (58.30%), inland precipitation (45.30%), offshore precipitation (68.42%), and storms (71.60%), whereas 61.20%
From a comparative analysis using scientific data, we found that the perceptions of the fishers regarding temperature and precipitation were consistent with the scientific data over the past 30 years, which shows that temperature and precipitation are likely to increase by 0.02 ◦ C·year−1 and 4.15 mm·year−1, respectively (Figure 3)
Summary
Coastal regions around the globe are dynamic, and they are vulnerable to climate change impacts that result from the density of the population and development projects in near coastal areas. This means that people living in coastal areas directly experience the effects of climate change, such as sea level rise and monsoons [1], which means they are more likely to be convinced about the impacts of climate change than those who do not directly suffer from the consequences.
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