Currently, Asia produces more than 91 percent of the world’s aquaculture, with Bangladesh ranking fifth globally, following China, Indonesia, India, and Vietnam.
A recent study has shown that climate change could lead to a loss of around US$140 million over ten years for Asia’s aquaculture industry, especially for Bangladesh. This underlines the importance of having better climate data.
A study in Climate Risk Management expects that Bangladesh, which is highly susceptible to severe weather conditions, will experience these conditions more frequently shortly.
The study suggests that reliable climate-related information can help fish farmers minimize losses from such events. It highlights that floods cause the most financial damage to hatcheries, open-water fish, and shrimp, and these remain at risk at all times.
From 2011 to 2020, floods resulted in the loss of about 54,000 tonnes of aquaculture production, worth US$93 million. Cyclones were the second most destructive, causing a total loss of 12,000 tonnes of fish products valued at US$248 million.
