As climate change and extreme weather intensify, forecasting natural environmental changes involves high uncertainty and variation. Planned policy changes and the ability of fisheries to withstand these changes and impacts are major challenges in regard to addressing future climate hazards in Taiwan. Taiwan’s geographic location is favourable for the marine fishery industry, which is an important primary industry and a source of animal protein for residents of Taiwan. Recently, both long-term climate change and extreme climate hazards have led to shocks in the marine fishery industry. The resulting instability of the industry directly affects the market supply of and demand for seafood. We conduct a case study of a marine fishery industry in Taiwan that incorporates social concern assessments of risk perception and judgements of risk acceptance through risk management processes. Furthermore, we incorporate stakeholder participatory processes to reduce the gap in awareness of adaptation and to increase the opportunity to reach consensus and develop an integrated risk management model that enables decision-makers to better meet the needs of society. These measures will enhance all parties’ willingness to adapt and help achieve the goal of public–private collaboration in facing climate change challenges.

In this study, we analyzed the fish species composition data of coastal capture fisheries in Taiwan between 1963 and 2010. The purpose of the analysis was to understand the long-term changes in marine ecosystems. A ratio-to-moving average method was used in conjunction with adjusted seasonal indices to determine the seasonality of individual catch items and to examine the trends shown by the species with the same seasonality. Over the 48-year timespan of the data, 31 species, i.e., 64% of the total number of species, were identified as seasonal migrants. The catch ratio for species showing a single peak in the spring increased steadily over time; however, those species with a single peak in the winter decreased. The catch ratio for those species with dual peaks in both summer and fall varied greatly before 1978. Increasing trends began in the 1980s and accelerated until 1998. As a result of this increase, the previous concentration of the fishing season in the winter months became highly diffuse. Additionally, the winter and/or spring species continued to decrease year after year as the summer and/or autumn species gradually came to dominate the catch. This change in fishing seasonality is likely not an anthropogenic effect. However, the change coincides with trends in sea surface temperature fluctuations. Such variation may not only cause structural change in marine ecosystems but can also significantly impact the economy and the livelihoods of those associated with the fishing trade.

Due to population growth, rapid economic development and inadequate marine control, the use of ocean and coastal regions in Taiwan has become more frequent and intense in recent years. However, the lack of comprehensive marine and coastal planning in this island nation has led to many conflicts over space and resources and limited its ability to prepare for and respond to environmental hazards, thus threatening national security as well as the safety and property of its citizens. This study proposes a marine zoning scheme for southern Taiwan. The results show that many important habitats in the southern sea areas have not been properly protected due to the extremely small size of the marine protected area. Furthermore, the majority of the conflicts derive from the exclusive fishing right vs. other uses such as marine conservation. Therefore, it is crucial to establish the marine spatial planning (MSP) for the Southern Taiwan to deal with the conflicts of use seas and uncertainties associated with complex, heterogeneous, and dynamic marine system.