Integrating Climate Change into Cons. and Mgt. of Fisheries Resources

The state of marine fishery resources globally and particularly in Nigeria is a matter of considerable concern. Hitherto, international and Nigerian fisheries laws, as well as the opinions of legal scholars on how to address this problem, have focused predominantly on overfishing. Meanwhile, scientific literature reveals that increasing ocean temperatures caused by global warming have serious legal and management implications on the sustainable development of marine fishery resources. This thesis argues that sustainability of marine fishery resources is achievable only if states, including Nigeria, adopt a holistic and proactive approach to their management. This approach demands mainstreaming climate change into harvest-based measures by applying precautionary and ecosystem management methods. The approach further requires coastal and fishing states to comply with fisheries and climate change regimes.