Nordic network: Climate impacts on fish, fishery industry and management in the Nordic Seas

The network will provide interdisciplinary studies on the link between the physical climate systems, geographical distribution of fish, and effects on the management systems and economic potential for harvesting. Understanding these links will provide a strong basis for developing sound, long-term fisheries management and policy capable of effective adaptation and mitigation to future climate change for the fisheries.

Climate change is driven by global processes, but works through regional physical climate systems, with profound potential effects on local scale. The geographical distribution of fisheries resources crosses national borders, and the management of these resources are often shared among several countries.

The Norwegian Sea and adjacent areas are typical examples of such an ocean area. When studying climate effects on fish and fisheries in this large system, Nordic research cooperation is vital.

One of the activities of the network is to develop a joint spatial database containing data on hydrography, fish, fisheries and other ecosystem data. The database will serve as a basis for monitoring, collecting, storing, exchanging Nordic data, and making it accessible.

Access to marine data from the involved Nordic countries is crucial for developing the database. The system will increase the capacity of the Nordic communities for assessment and mitigation of climate change effects.

Facts about the project
Project manager

Jan Erik Stiansen, Institute of Marine Research, Norway

Funding scheme
Thematic programme