Research shows a more prosperous global future is possible if both climate change and sustainable fisheries management are addressed now.
If we proactively implement effective fisheries management and limit global temperature rise, the world’s oceans still have the potential to be significantly more plentiful in the future than today, despite climate change. This finding is among several that appear in a first-of-its kind study, “Improved fisheries management could offset many negative effects of climate change,” that appears today in the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences’ journal Science Advances.
“The expected global effects of climate change on our oceans are broadly negative,” said Steve Gaines, the study’s lead author and dean of UC Santa Barbara’s Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, “but we still have the fortunate opportunity to turn the tide and create a more bountiful future.”
The study finds that with concerted and adaptive responses to climate change, the world’s oceans could actually create more abundant fish populations, more food for human consumption and more profit for fishermen despite the negative impacts of climate change. Conversely, the study cautions, inaction on fisheries management and climate change will mean even more dramatic losses of fish and the benefits they provide to people.
Continue reading at University of California Santa Barbara
Image via University of California Santa Barbara
