Pembrokeshire Coastal Forum (PCF) has recently been meeting with Saundersfoot fishermen, Pembrokeshire County Council, Welsh Government, Public Health Wales, local councillors and Natural Resources Wales (NRW) to better understand how climate change is already affecting Saundersfoot — and how the community can work together to prepare for the future.
🎣 What fishermen are telling us
Climate change is already having real, day-to-day impacts on fishing livelihoods:
- More frequent storms, stronger winds and swell are reducing safe fishing days and fouling / damaging gear
- Increased flooding risk is raising concerns about boat damage in the harbour
- Extreme heat at sea is creating increased risk of heat exhaustion in the summer
- Rising costs (fuel, bait, replacement gear) combined with fewer days able to fish are making incomes increasingly inconsistent
- Warmer seas mean whelks are less active, significantly shortening the fishing season (around 6 weeks lost this year, compared with ~2 weeks historically)
- Fisher numbers have declined over decades and continue to fall
- Limited facilities to safely get boats in and out of the water during storms add further risk and cost
⚙️ Adaptation already underway
Despite these pressures, fishermen are already adapting:
• Heavier weights on lines
• Equipment adaptations to cope with rougher conditions
• Exploring ways to locate and recover lost pots
• Raising questions about whether harbour infrastructure could better support safe haul-out during storms
🚨 Strengthening community flood & emergency planning
PCF also met with Cllr Tony Wall and colleagues from Natural Resources Wales to discuss how Saundersfoot can develop a community flood and emergency plan as part of the new Saundersfoot Contingency Planning Group.
Key insights from NRW included:
• NRW currently supports 74 community flood plans across Wales
• Participatory mapping is highly effective in helping communities understand local flood risk
• Clear information on who to contact during an emergency, and location of safe spaces / sandbags etc are essential
• Testing plans through dummy flood warnings improves real-world response
• Keeping plans up to date is critical
• Only 12 of the 113 properties at risk in Saundersfoot are currently signed up to flood warnings — highlighting a clear need for local advocacy
💬 From PCF
“These conversations show that climate adaptation isn’t abstract — it’s about real people, real livelihoods and real places. Fishermen in Saundersfoot are already adapting, but long-term resilience will depend on collaboration between communities, harbour authorities and public bodies.”
— Tom Luddington, Coastal Stakeholder Manager, Pembrokeshire Coastal Forum
🤝 Why this matters
By bringing together local knowledge and national expertise, Saundersfoot is using the Pembrokeshire Climate Adaptation toolkit to help take important steps towards protecting homes, livelihoods and community wellbeing in a changing climate.
If you haven’t signed up for flood warnings yet you can do that here:
Sign up for Flood Warnings. See the Pembrokeshire Climate Adaptation toolkit here
