Warming of the oceans due to climate change will mean fewer productive fish species to catch in the future, according to a new Rutgers study that found as temperatures warm, predator-prey interactions will prevent species from keeping up with the conditions where they could thrive.
Warming of the oceans due to climate change will mean fewer productive fish species to catch in the future, according to a new Rutgers study that found as temperatures warm, predator-prey interactions will prevent species from keeping up with the conditions where they could thrive.
The new study, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, presents a mixed picture of ocean health. Not only will large species and commercially important fisheries shift out of their historical ranges as climate warms, but they will likely not be as abundant even in their new geographic ranges. For instance, a cod fisherman in the Atlantic might still find fish 200 years from now but in significantly fewer numbers.
“What that suggests from a fisheries perspective is that while the species we fish today will be there tomorrow, they will not be there in the same abundance. In such a context, overfishing becomes easier because the population growth rates are low,” said study coauthor Malin Pinsky, an associate professor in Rutgers’ Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources. “Warming coupled with food-web dynamics will be like putting marine biodiversity in a blender.”
Read more at Rutgers University
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