New research on marine ecosystems’ likely response to climate change pressures, presented at the AAAS Annual Meeting this month, predicts significant changes in commercially-important fish species’ distribution in the world’s oceans.
Some of the findings include:
- There will be a large-scale re-distribution of species, with most moving towards the Pole
- Developing countries in the tropics will suffer the biggest loss in catch
- Nordic countries such as Norway will gain with increased catch
- Some species will face a high risk of extinction, including Striped Rock Cod in the Antarctic and St Paul Rock Lobster in the Southern Ocean
- The invasion and local extinction of species may disrupt marine ecosystems and biodiversity
News round up:
Scientific American: Climate change erodes marine reserves
New Scientist: African fisheries hit hardest by warming
BBC: Bleak forecast on fishing stocks
Times (UK) online: Ocean atlas shows how climate change is making the fish we eat harder to find