August 18, 2016 — A reef fish that can’t find its way home and whose erratic behaviour constantly puts it in danger might make a nice premise for a children’s movie, but oceans filled with Dory’s could spell disaster for their survival.
Higher atmospheric carbon dioxide levels means more is being absorbed in seawater, with some young fish’s nervous systems being affected.
Not with standing the wonderful diversity of marine wildlife around our shores, with 130 species commercially fished in New Zealand and worth $1.2 billion annually, finding out what’s in store for them in a warming world is important.
If snapper and others start showing Dory traits fishery’s could be affected.
With a budget of nearly $5 million over 4 years researchers at Niwa, Cawthron Institute in Nelson, University of Auckland, and Otago University under the Carim (Coastal Acidification: Rate, Impact and Management) programme will be looking at affects on phytoplankton, aquaculture species paua and greenshell mussels, and young snapper.