July 10, 2024 — New research predicts significant shifts in marine fish communities in the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans as a result of climate warming.
The Nord University-led study projects a change in key fish biomass and suggests that Arctic demersal fish will be at risk of local extinction by the end of the century if no climate refugia is available at eastern latitudes.
The international team of experts, involving Newcastle University experts, analyzed data from 16,345 fishery-independent trawls conducted between 2004 and 2022, focusing on 107 marine fish species in the northeast Atlantic, including the Barents Sea. They used advanced modeling techniques to project changes in species distribution and biomass under three future climate scenarios for the years 2050 and 2100.