Fisheries Redistrubution under Climate Change: Rethinking the Law to Address the “Governance Gap”
Mr Mitchell Lennan1
1Strathclyde Centre For Environmental Law And Governance, Glasgow, United Kingdom
This presentation showcases ongoing PhD reseach concerning the issue of fisheries redistribution under climate change. Scientific surveys and fisheries mathematical models tell us ocean warming and acidification is shifting the distribution of many fish species poleward, or into deeper waters. An issue with this phenomenon is that fisheries distribution is often assumed as fixed around a historical average. Redistribution could lead to disputes between States who share stocks, with consequences for food security and development. In the North-East Atlantic, this is a huge legislative challenge from a European, UK and Scottish perspective, with Brexit adding further complexity. This paper seeks to address the question: “How can international, regional, national, and subnational fisheries legislation build resilience and adaptivity to the effects of climate change on marine species, to maintain sustainable exploitation of fish stocks, and avoid disputes between States?” Building on legal questions distilled from a review of the scientific literature on this topic, the presentation will identify the legal governance gaps concerning fisheries redistribution. Considering that marine environmental law often lags behind it’s terrestrial sibling, lessons that marine environmental law can learn from its terrestrial counterpart to address species redistribution governance are identified.
Biography:
Mitchell Lennan
PhD Researcher and Events Officer, Strathclyde Centre for Environmental Law and Governance (SCELG), University of Strathclyde, Glasgow.
Mitchell joined SCELG as a Research Assistant in July 2017 and began his PhD at the Centre in October 2018. His research explores the interaction between global environmental law and science & technology, and how the integration of these two subject areas can address contemporary environmental issues. Mitchell has a strong interest in Law of the Sea and the marine environment, particularly fisheries and marine biodiversity.
Building on a background and previous research experience in fisheries science and International Law of the Sea, Mitchell’s PhD looks at the issue of fisheries redistribution under climate change with a focus on the North Atlantic. Scientific surveys and fisheries mathematical models tell us ocean warming and acidification is shifting the distribution of many fish species poleward, or into deeper waters. An issue with this phenomenon is that fisheries distribution is often assumed as fixed around a historical average. Redistribution can (and does) lead to disputes between States who share stocks, with consequences for food security and development. In the North Atlantic, this is a huge legislative challenge from a European, UK and Scottish perspective, with Brexit adding further complexity. Mitchell’s overarching question is: “How can international, regional, national, and subnational fisheries legislation best be adaptable to the effects of climate change on marine species, to maintain sustainable exploitation of fish stocks, and avoid disputes between States?”