Another casualty of climate change will likely be shoreline recreational fishing, according to new research from North Carolina State University and Oregon State University.
Another casualty of climate change will likely be shoreline recreational fishing, according to new research from North Carolina State University and Oregon State University. The study finds some regions of the U.S. may benefit from increasing temperatures, but those benefits will be more than offset by declines in fishing elsewhere.
“If there are not significant efforts to curtail climate change, we’re looking at declines in recreational fishing participation of around 15% by 2080,” says Roger von Haefen, co-author of the study and a professor of agricultural and resource economics at NC State.
“We also want to stress that this study looks solely at how changes in temperature and precipitation are likely to affect people’s willingness to go fishing from the shore,” von Haefen says. “This work doesn’t get at shifts in fish populations, water quality impacts, or other climate-related changes that could affect recreational fishing demand.”
To examine this issue, the researchers looked at shoreline recreational fishing data from 2004 through 2009, encompassing all Atlantic coast states, as well as Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. Specifically, the researchers examined how different temperature and precipitation conditions impacted decisions to participate in recreational fishing.
Read more at North Carolina State University
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