Bridging Data Gaps for Climate Resilience: A Case Study of Coastal Small-Scale Fishers in Cape Town

Climate change is driving widespread transformations across global coastal and marine ecosystems. This is disrupting the species distribution; marine biodiversity; and ecosystems that are vital for communities dependent on these resources. Small-scale fisher women are highly vulnerable to these shifts due to challenges including limited access to adaptive resources, economic instability, and barriers within governance structures (Almeida de Carvalho et al., 2023). The effects of climate change on marine systems: sea-level rise, ocean acidification, and increased frequency of extreme weather events are increasingly becoming significant and ongoing. Hence, leading to habitat degradation and declining fish stock productivity; challenging traditional fishing practices; and threatening the livelihoods of dependent communities (Mason et al., 2021). Studies indicate that climate impacts force fisher communities to adopt such techniques as diversifying target species or altering fishing methods, yet multispecies fisheries management remains challenging in the face of limited resources and regulatory support (Karr et al., 2021).

Climate Resilience Vanguard (CRV) investigates critical climate resilience data gaps that impact women small-scale fishers in Cape Town. A major challenge to the implementation of equitable adaptive solutions, mitigation strategies and data-driven policy decisions is the lack of gender-disaggregated data. Key data points—such as household income, educational attainment, displacement trends, licensing access, catchment allocations, and fishing quotas—remain underrepresented in existing datasets. The case study contributes to data collection and vulnerability assessments that will update local municipal repositories, ensuring targeted interventions aimed at improving the livelihoods and resilience of women in small-scale fishers.