Building a climate-resilient safe operating space for coral reef fisheries to tackle malnutrition in the global tropics

Objective

Coral reef fisheries prominently feature in the delivery of nutritional benefits (e.g., essential amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins and minerals) throughout the tropics, with over 500 million people, mostly in low and middle-income countries, estimated to depend on reefs for food and income. However, our lack of understanding on how to effectively manage reef fisheries in the context of environmental change is leading to unsustainable reef-based food systems and reduced income for dependent populations, exacerbating malnutrition in tropical coastal communities. Innovative fisheries management tools are needed that simultaneously enhance ecosystem resilience and the multiple ecosystem services coral reefs provide to human populations. SAFEReefs aims to empirically develop, for the first time, a climate-resilient safe operating space (SOS) for data-poor reef fisheries so reefs can be sustainably managed in multiple dimensions (e.g., ecologically, economically and nutritionally) under a rapidly changing environment. Using a global dataset covering >2000 reefs worldwide and capturing community composition shifts experienced under climate change, this project will (i) estimate sustainable reference points for reef fisheries that account for the interconnections between nutrient supplies, ecological stability and economic gains; and (ii) conduct the first global assessment of coral reef fisheries sustainability and climate-resilience, pinpointing the ecosystem, nutrition and economic potential of applying climate-resilient reef fisheries globally. Overall, SAFEReefs will generate new knowledge, contribute towards an evidence-based online decision support tool to help end-users (e.g., fisheries stakeholders) manage their reef fisheries, and reveal novel interdisciplinary solutions to help tackle the ongoing climate and health crisis experienced by many coastal populations around the globe.