Impact of Climate Change on Fisheries Resources in the Eastern Niger Delta Regions, Nigeria

Studies were carried out during February – August 2022 to investigate the impact of climate change on fisheries resources in Eastern Niger Region of Nigeria. The study area covered was Cross River and Mbo River estuaries. Both face to face, group interview and structured questionnaire were used in the study, likewise the historic data on the annual climatic parameters of temperature, rainfall, comparative moistness and wind speed in the study area were obtained for the region, spanning over a period of 50 years and compared with more recent (10 years ago) for all the climatic factors. Results showed that 44.9% of the respondents indicate that climate change impacted on their fishing infrastructure in the area through damage to boat/canoe, anchor/net and drying hut, damage to fish dying hut, damage to fish processing platforms and damage to fish preservation cages/baskets. Revealing consistent fluctuations in the area for the past 50 years with the following mean temperature values of 26.92°C in the year 1986, 26.47°C in the year 2012 and 27.12°C in the year 2020 respectively. The statistical results reflect that the impacts on fisheries are not alarming and are controllable. On the basis of finding it was concluded that, the climate of Cross River Estuaries fluctuates with its attendant impact on artisanal fisheries in the area. The study noted important correlation among changing climatic apparatus and ecological problems of fisheries in the area.