Vulnerability of Coastal Fisher Households to Climate Change: A Case Study from Gujarat, India

Abstract

The impacts of climate change are invariably seen on agriculture, aquatic ecosystem, energy, and economics. The fishery sector on which livelihood of world’s 36 million fishers depends is also not untouched but a little attention has been given to study the vulnerability of fisherfolk population to climate change programs. Therefore, the present study was envisaged to assess the vulnerability of fishers to the climate change in Junagadh district of Gujarat, India. The vulnerability of 1500 fisher household was assessed using PARS (parameter, attribute, resilient indicator, score) methodology, in four coastal villages namely Old light house, Bhidiya, Navabunder and Rajpara in Junagadh district. Five parameters viz., fishery, economy, social, environmental and development drivers have been assessed as indicators of sensitivity, exposure and adaptive capacity. ‘Economy’ was found to be the most impacted parameter consequent to climate change followed by the ‘social’ and ‘environmental’ parameters. The results obtained reflect low adaptive capacity of fishers that could be attributed to lack of awareness, preparation, and mitigation option. Thus, the finding of the study could be used as a vital input while developing the policy and suitable action plan to combat the impacts of climate change minimizing the risk to fisheries sector.