Global warming and its possible impacts on fisheries in developing countries: a systematic literature review

Background: Small-scale fishing has a vital contribution to the economies of developing countries. Fisheries provide animal protein to human beings and play an important role in ensuring their food security. Global warming has significantly affected the biological growth, distribution, and the ecosystem of fisheries. Objective: The main objective of this study is to review the existing literature on the impacts of global warming on fisheries in developing countries. Methods: The systematic review design was adopted for conducting this study. The articles for this review were searched through the keywords; “fisheries”, global warming” “impacts of global warming”, impacts of global warming on fisheries”, and “developing countries”. The scrutiny process was comprised of three steps. Firstly, 415 articles were identified through keyword search. Secondly, 277 articles were removed through title analysis. Finally, 138 articles were selected for this review after screening the abstract and body of the paper. Articles indexed in Google Scholar, Scopus, Science Direct, and Web of Science were selected. Through qualitative analysis and descriptive statistics, the analysis was completed. Results: The findings of the review showed that global warming has affected fisheries in developing countries. In physical impacts, water surface temperature rise, sea level rise, increasing water salinity, in biological impacts, changes in primary production, changes in fisheries distribution, and regional-specific impacts, specific species have been affected in the polar, temperate, and tropical areas. Speeding up the metabolism, reducing the availability of oxygen, changes in the growth of species, shifting movement towards poles, and changes in the availability of nutrients are the significant impacts on global warming on fisheries. Conclusion: Global warming remains one of the important phenomena impacting fisheries and aquaculture in developing countries. It has negative impacts on fisheries, by damaging their important ecosystems like coral reefs and mangroves. It also causes a reduction in fish stocks due to low primary production and a rise in the water temperature.