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Warming ocean temperatures could mean big changes for fish populations |
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Fish are very sensitive to any changes in temperature and with many of the commercial species in New England already at the southern limit of their range, there are fears that such warming may force some fish to abandon historically abundant areas such as Georges Bank for cooler waters. As these shifts in fish populations develop, more Southern species such as the Atlantic croaker could become common in New England. In April, NOAA'a Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole released a report on the marine ecosystem for the northeast continental shelf showing that the summer 2011 surface temperature was the highest in 157 years it's been keeping records. The weather in the last decade is the warmest it has been in a century, according to Jeremy Collie, a biological oceanographer at the University of Rhode Island. "There is a trend in the temperature," he said. "We've had these warmer temperatures for longer." After this year's mild winter, the sea never cooled down, he said. In December 2011, ocean sensors south of the Vineyard registered a water temperature of 68 degrees in the waters next to the continental shelf, a very rare event. And the warming as accompanied by a corresponding jump in salinity.
As summer approaches its end on land, ocean water temperatures are now reaching their peak. And the changing conditions are now being observed year-round. Read the complete story from The Standard-Times.
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MICHAEL CONATHAN: Ocean Warming Means A New Paradigm For The World’s Fisheries
May 20, 2013 -- Fishing is a profession often passed down from one generation to the next. Many lobstermen in Maine fish the same bottom their fathers and grandfathers fished, and the same holds true of fishermen father offshore as well. Yet increasingly, anecdotal evidence has suggested that the old faithful fishing spots are no longer quite so reliable.
