Present applications and future needs of meteorological and climatological data in inland fisheries and aquaculture

Abstract

In 1996 production from capture fisheries and aquaculture in inland waters amounted to more than 23 million t. The amount of fish that can be produced, whether by capture from natural systems, or through aquaculture, depends on water quality and water quantity. The most obvious connections between meteorological data and inland fisheries and aquaculture production are via water temperature and the amounts of water available to natural and man-made systems, but there are also more subtle indirect relationships that affect the movement of nutrients and fish behaviour including migrations and reproduction. A wide range of examples of applications of meteorological data to aquaculture and inland fisheries are provided. They include continental assessments of inland fish farming potential, fishery potential in small water bodies, synoptic loss of fishery potential due to environmental degradation, complex effects of wind on fish production in a large lake and effects of global warming on fish distribution and production. It is concluded that the meteorological data that serve for agriculture also are relevant for inland fisheries and aquaculture, although the relative importance of parameters and their temporal aptness may be different, and thresholds may be dissimilar. Similarly, if the timeliness, resolution and predictive capabilities for agrometeorological data can be improved, there would be considerable benefits to inland fisheries and aquaculture. Geographically synoptic gridded agrometeorological data sets at 1 km resolution should be a short term objective.