Heat of climate change affecting livelihoods

Malaysian fishermen who cast their net along the coast of Johor, the southern state, are finding their catch is reduced, and also the weather has changed uncertain with sudden storms threatening the small boats which they use along the coast. Fishing in these waters has become both uncertain and dangerous for these small fishermen, who constitute 65 per cent of the fishing community of Malaysia. Recently, Mohammed Ridhwan Mohd Yazid found himself caught in an unexpected storm as he was getting home on an overcast morning six years. The boat along with the rich haul of the day and Ridhwan were thrown into midair, and by the time he landed in the boat half his catch was thrown off. All that he wanted was to get home, he said in an interview with Al Jazeera. The sudden change in weather conditions has become a big issue for small fishermen like Ridhwan. A University of British Columbia study in 2022 showed that 45 per cent of fish would move away from their natural habitat by the end of the century.

According to US-based National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Adminitration the sea level temperature of 21 Degrees Celsius in January was one degree higher than it was 30 years ago. According to oceanographer Mohd Fadzil Mohd Akhit at Universiti Malaysia, marine animals migrate to cooler water as temperatures rise, and this is a reason for the decline in the catch. For quite some time, the local fishermen assumed that there was decline in fish in the coastal waters because of development and construction on the coast and the construction of artificial islands. But during COVID, when construction work came to a halt, there was no increase in the fish in the waters.

There was no replenishment in the fish stocks. There was a time when the fishermen could make a good living out of fishing. Shafie Rehman, who has been fishing for 50 years says that there was a time when he could get a haul of 30 kg to 40 kg of crabs in a day, but now that has reduced to 10 kg. He thinks the labour is not worth the effort. The small fishing boat which runs on a single engine costs $2,298 and a thousands more for the nets, engine and fuel. The investment needed for it is high and the returns on it are not commensurable. There is a certain despair. Many of them like Ridhwan gave up fishing and tried to do other jobs. He had worked as a courier during the COVID. He seens no hope in sticking to the traditional profession of fishing. Other fishermen too will be forced to think of alternative ways of earning a livelihood.

Climate scientists have been warning about the dangers of warming of the seats and how this could hasten the melting of polar ice. The immediate inference was that many of the island-nations in the Pacific and other places could sink.

But the depletion of marine life is another distinct possibility, and this will affect the livelihoods of millions of people living in coastal areas and in islands in the tropics. It is these far-reaching consequences of climate change that pose a challenge to all the countries and international organisations in the world. There are no simple solutions and it would require global effort to meet the challenges of climate change. And there cannot be 11th hour responses because by then it would be too late. What is needed is a long term plan to meet the contingency. It is a known fact that the seas are a great source for absorbing the carbon emissions and in keeping the global temperatures at reasonable levels.