Tuesday, May 29, 2018

Your dinner might be swimming North thanks to climate change

fishies

Fisheries worldwide are expected to face substantial struggles as warming ocean waters force marine species to change their migratory patterns

The climate crisis poses a growing threat to fisheries across the globe, as warming oceans force marine species to head for the poles or deeper waters—and away from some of the world's most heavily fished areas, according to a new report published in the journal PLOS ONE.

Warming ocean waters, as a result of anthropogenic climate change, have already caused migration changes for marine organisms, "which have generally been shifting poleward or into deeper waters as temperatures warm," according to the report.
For the new study, scientists examined the migratory changes of nearly 700 species living in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans along the North American continental shelf, and projected future shifts for these species, based on anticipated increases in ocean temperatures throughout the 21st century.
 
Fish shifts

 
 
The North American continental shelf, the reports notes, is "an expansive area with some of the most productive fisheries globally" that also "contains some of the most rapidly increasing regions of ocean temperature in the world"—meaning that as the water temperatures continue to rise, these highly productive fisheries will likely be significantly impacted.

"We've already seen that shifts of a couple of hundred miles in a species' migratory range can disrupt and bankrupt fisheries," lead author James Morley, a marine biologist at Rutgers University, reported. "This study shows that such dislocations of migratory patterns will happen all over the continent and on both coasts throughout the 21st century." 

As Rutgers researcher and co-author Malin Pinsky put it, "It's like the rug is slowly getting pulled out from under our fishing communities."
Even if the international community somehow manages to meet the ambitions of the Paris climate agreement and limit global warming to no more than 2 degrees Celsius, Pinsky explained that their findings indicate these fisheries could still suffer a great deal from the warming waters, considering that highly mobile marine species are changing habitats in response to the climate crisis 10 times faster than the rate of land-based species. They are migrating towards the poles where the water is still cooler than more central planetary waters.
 

"This is something that's been happening on the East Coast already. If we don't prepare for what is surely coming, it's going to create more conflict and challenges for fishing communities in the future," Pinsky warned.  They will be struggling for survival and unable to follow the schools of fish which will migrate far beyond the range and capabilities of fishing boats. 
 Pointing out that fishing permitting isn't keeping up with the pace of migratory changes, particularly along the East Coast, Pinksy added: "Accounting for climate change is very necessary. If we pretend like nothing is happening, it's not going to help."  In fact, if we pretend like nothing is happening we may lose the greatest source of food on the planet.


4 comments:

  1. aunt Jeannie ,
    Lot of fish markets in Louisiana is saying the same thing , they are saying we haven't completely recovered from the BP oil spill and explosion on the gulf , people on the gulf never recover from the sickness they encounter after the accident The people that own the BP companies must be related to Mr. Trump they lie a lot .They will have to pay for their sins in the end .
    We will spend a lot of this summer on the lake we have fresh fish for breakfast most morning . we told mama to put a lot of fish recipes on Wanderingbrook , they are fast and easy .

    People have to stop pretending because Climate change is for real .
    We got another page to put in daddy's folder , they really speaks of daddy nice and they mention poppa , They have sassy sitting at his desk , he looks so much like poppa if you would like to read it let us know and we will put it in the secret place.

    Aunt Knight Jeannie we hit over 500 again we are holding our own .
    Love
    Crusader Jenny , Nanook & Knight Mika

    ReplyDelete
  2. May 30,2018
    Today-----------15
    Yesterday-------29
    This month-----554
    Total------------4,692
    JLC

    ReplyDelete
  3. We're doing awesome my Crusader. If we could get through to 500 people a month, we would be doing better than a lot of other environmental groups. And if some of them come back over and over, then we can assume we have made them believers.
    I figured when the oil spill happened in the Gulf that it would take decades to recover. Mama and I did many articles on that tragedy. We wanted to teach people how dangerous those accidents are. And how the oil company did not take full responsibility or pay the full amount of money owed to the fishermen in area and owed for the cleanup of the oil.
    Fish are way more important to our survival than a lot of people think.
    Love Aunt Jeannie

    ReplyDelete
  4. PS: I would love to read about your Daddy. It's Nice that you guys are proud of him.
    Luv K.A.J.

    ReplyDelete