Adapting to climate change starts with knowing what conditions to expect.

Each year, Sea Change Australia partners with CSIRO to produce state-based climate report cards tailored to the seafood sector that summarise recent sea surface temperatures, current forecasts and projected changes for waters around Australia. The report cards are designed to give fisheries, aquaculture and the seafood sector a practical snapshot of what’s happening in local waters, and what to plan for.

The 2026 report cards are now available, covering Victoria and Tasmania, New South Wales, Queensland, Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia.

Across all states, water temperatures are expected to rise over the next 12 months, with marine heatwaves likely to last longer and bottom temperatures climbing. Productivity is projected to decline, though there is considerable uncertainty around those projections.

 The state-based cards break down what these broad trends mean at a regional level, so it’s worth checking the detail for your area rather than relying on national summaries alone.

For a detailed look at observed and forecast conditions in your region, the full set of state-based report cards is available here.

If you have questions about how the climate information in your state’s report card might affect your fishery, you can submit them through our Q&A platform.