Assessment of SIOFA Species and Ecosystems for vulnerability to climate change impacts

The SIOFA Scientific Committee (SC) is tasked to provide fisheries management advice to the SIOFA Meeting of the Parties (MoP). In recent years, both the SC and the MoP have agreed to have a standing agenda item at their annual meeting dealing with climate change. The SIOFA SC discussed climate change during its 9th annual meeting, in 2024 (see paragraphs 399–407 of the SC9 report). The SIOFA SC also discussed climate change at the following meeting, in 2025, when it was first added as a specific item to its agenda (see paragraphs 545–552 of the SC10 report).
The SC has also defined a list of primary, secondary and bycatch species at its 8th annual meeting, and this list is available in the annually-updated Appendix A of the Overview of SIOFA Fisheries (https://siofa.org/sites/default/files/files/SIOFA-Fisheries-Overview-2024_redacted.pdf). However, information on climate change in the Indian Ocean and its potential effects on SIOFA stocks is still scarce.
This project will assess SIOFA primary, secondary, and bycatch species and vulnerable ecosystems for levels of vulnerability to climatic change at various temporal scales, using appropriate risk characterization processes. It will identify those species and ecosystems most likely to require consideration in SC assessment processes within the next ten and twenty years.