Impacts of climate change on fish, fisheries and aquaculture MATTHEW FROST a , JOHN M. BAXTER b , PAUL J. BUCKLEY c , MARTYN COX d , STEPHEN R. DYE c, * and NARUMON WITHERS HARVEY e a Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, Plymouth, PL1 2PB, UK b Scottish Natural Heritage, Silvan House, 231 Corstorphine Road, Edinburgh, EH12 7AT, UK c MCCIP Secretariat, Cefas, Lowestoft, NR33 0HT, UK d Marine Scotland, Scottish Government, Edinburgh, EH6 6QQ, UK e Marine Environmental Strategy and Evidence, Defra, London, SW1P 3JR, UK INTRODUCTION At the 2010 British–Irish Council meeting of Environmental Ministers, the Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership (MCCIP, www. mccip.org.uk) launched its fourth Report Card, summarizing the current ‘state of the science’ on marine climate change impacts for decision makers (MCCIP, 2010). In discussion, the Environment Ministers (representing the UK government, the devolved administrations of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Isle of Man and the States of Jersey and Guernsey) agreed that a future MCCIP report card focusing on fish, fisheries and aquaculture would be extremely beneficial to both the policy and wider stakeholder community. These are issues that have generated some controversy in the media and elsewhere and have significant implications for the future management of UK seas. The information in previous MCCIP Report Cards has been the product of peer-reviewed papers written by recognized experts in their various fields which were made available on the MCCIP web site. The publication of these three Review articles in Aquatic Conservation represents the first time information provided to MCCIP has been made available directly via the scientific literature rather than solely through the MCCIP website. The increased scientific rigour provided by the more formal review of these papers is particularly important given the contentious nature of the topics covered, not just among scientists, but also amongst policy-makers, industry and conservationists. SETTING THE SCENE This collection consists of three individual review papers. The first covers the ‘impacts of climate change on fish’, looking at what changes in fish and shellfish species and communities have been observed around the UK and Ireland and what could happen in the future. The second paper considers the implications of climate-driven impacts on ‘wild’ fisheries and shellfisheries for the economies of the UK and Ireland, and the livelihoods of people dependent on these industries. The final paper focuses on what climate change could mean for the future of the aquaculture industry and the ‘farmed’ species of fish and shellfish. While acknowledging that the scientific evidence base is, in parts, fragmentary and that uncertainty exists about future climate change, the authors have been explicitly asked to also address the ‘so-what’ question that decision-makers are ultimately challenged with, i.e. what are the implications of the evidence being provided? This not only includes the economic and social implications for local fishing communities but also *Correspondence to: S. R. Dye, MCCIP Secretariat, Cefas, Lowestoft, NR33 0HT, UK. Email: stephen.dye@cefas.co.uk Reproduced with the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationary Office/ Queen’s Printer for Scotland Copyright # 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and Crown Copyright AQUATIC CONSERVATION: MARINE AND FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEMS Aquatic Conserv: Mar. Freshw. Ecosyst. 22: 331–336 (2012) Published online 7 May 2012 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI: 10.1002/aqc.2230