Climate change is beginning to affect Nova Scotia fisheries and impacts are expected to increase. Understanding where and how local fisheries are vulnerable to climate change is a critical step to guide planned adaptation. To better expand our understanding of climate change threats to Nova Scotia fisheries, a rapid climate change vulnerability assessment was implemented and partitioned between two models. The first model (Fisheries) considered fish harvesters and their respective fisheries. The second model (Community) considered community vulnerabilities where fish harvesters live and operate. Both models were applied at the county scale, incorporating Exposure, Sensitivity, and Adaptive Capacity indices. Relative vulnerabilities across the province are compared and steps are suggested to support sensitivity reduction and increase the adaptive capacity of provincial fisheries, under a changing climate.
