Under this backdrop of climate impacts and international and European policy developments, the CERES project (Climate Change and European Aquatic Resources) was funded under the EU Horizon 2020 programme from 2016 to 2020. CERES was designed to advance a cause-and-effect understanding of how climate change will influence European fish and shellfish resources and the economic activities depending on them.

More than 150 scientists from 26 partner institutions in 15 countries participated in this four-year project. Partners included national research laboratories, universities as well as industry members from the aquaculture and fisheries sectors and additional stakeholders. Focusing on the most commercially-valuable fish and shellfish, the project increased our knowledge and developed tools needed for adaptation planning for European fisheries and aquaculture sectors in marine and inland waters to anticipated climate change. The project identified not only risks but also opportunities as well as uncertainties of climate change impacts, information needed to enhance the resilience and support the development of sustainable management and governance systems in these Blue Growth sectors.

CERES integrated physical, social, ecological and economic analyses relevant to both European fisheries and aquaculture sectors . The program studied the most valuable species and groups and associated businesses across ‘Storylines’ highlighting sector- and region-specific research findings. CERES developed 24 Storylines to capture the high diversity of European regions (from marine to freshwaters and from high to low latitudes) and commercially important species (from pelagic to demersal fisheries and from the culture of fish (Figure 2). Whereas Storylines form separate, stand-alone products, the present report summarises CERES findings across Storylines to compare and contrast the potential severity of effects of climate change (from risks to potential opportunities) across European marine and freshwaters. This synthesis report includes national-level comparisons of climate vulnerability for both sectors as well as analyses of the potential climate change impacts on the interaction between fisheries and aquaculture.