August 4, 2015 — The massive pool of warm water stretching from the Pacific Coast of the US to Alaska is currently affecting only a few fisheries, but has the potential to impact more next year.
For the last month, in the area stretching from Southern California to Alaska, sea surface temperatures have been 1 to 3 degrees Celsius above normal (1.8 to 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit).
This has resulted in changes in plankton blooms, and a change in species. Scientists with Oregon State University say that tropical copepods have now been found in the Northwest, and native plankton are fewer in number. Fish and birds that would normally eat native plankton are shying away from the newcomers, as they are less nutritious.
Sardines which are known to have large cyclical changes in population have been among the most vulnerable to this change, and the sardine fishery on the West Coast has been closed this year after numbers declined below the management’s precautionary threshold.
But other fisheries are doing fine. Brad Pettinger, director of the Oregon Trawl Commission, says that through June, shrimp catches were running 50% higher than last year. However, “Ordinarily, when a el nino hits this coast, the following year’s shrimp production isn’t effected to the extent the next year’s production is. Basically, the el nino puts the hurt on the spawn and that isn’t seen until a year and a half later.”
The whiting fishery is also proceeding well. With a total quota of around 267,000 tons, about 94,000 tons has been landed in all three sectors: mother ship, catcher processor, and shore side.
Read the full story at SeafoodNews.com
