HE heating incomparable In addition to accelerating climate change and a lack of agreement on quotas among fishing nations, the reduction of northeastern Atlantic Ocean waters due to a marine heatwave could become the “perfect storm” for some iconic pelagic species. mackerel, herring or blue haddock, They need cold water to breed and keep their populations in good shape, as the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) warns.
MSC, the global label for sustainable fisheries, urges governments to cooperate beyond their borders to ensure that the fish stocks they share are effectively controlled and managed as some of them are overexploited.
In this context, it warns about the situation of species such as mackerel, Atlantic-Scandinavian herring and blue haddock, which are affected by climate change. may limit their spawning capacity and therefore cause population decline This, in turn, will significantly affect ocean ecosystems and the supply of fisheries products. On the other hand, warming seawater temperatures may affect these species, which will have to move north to seek shallower waters.
In this context, MSC warns: these pelagic species are currently overexploited by the UK, Norway, the European Union, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Russia.Those who cannot agree on hunting quotas in accordance with scientific opinions. This disagreement, leading to a political stalemate for the seal of ratification, is pushing fish populations further north as the seas warm, changing their distribution patterns, creating a “perfect storm” and jeopardizing their future health. important fish stocks.
Therefore, it encourages governments to prioritize the sustainable management of stocks to ensure their resilience to the effects of climate change, as he warns the consequences for stocks will be even more serious in the absence of climate-related “smart” fisheries management strategies. . In fact, he speculates that warming seas and marine heat waves are the cause of some Atlantic-Nordic herring populations. It was reduced by 40 percent between 2005 and 2015.
Olav Sigurd Kjesbu, Chief Scientist of the Norwegian Marine Research, said that these offshore fish stocks sensitive to temperature changes and that scientists have already seen climate affect distribution, spawning capacity and mortality.
“The rapid warming of the seas may accelerate these changes and may also significantly affect the reproductive capacity of herring and blue haddock, according to recent research,” he warns. However, scientists believe that the current marine heatwave in the North Atlantic, effect of other marine heat waves likenesses can be repeated all over the planet.
In this context, remember that marine heatwaves in Western Australia in 2011 and on the west coast of the United States in 2014-2016 reduced fish stocks. So much so that fishing facilities were closed for over three years to help recover fish stocks..
Along the same lines, scientist Christopher Free of the University of California (USA) Marion Institute has assured that sea heat waves have changed fisheries worldwide over the past decade, and that these temperature conditions in the North Atlantic insist, “similar disasters are coming.”
Currently, the World Meteorological Organization has announced that the ‘El Niño’ phenomenon is active, which could cause heat waves in 50 percent of the oceans from today to September. So much so that Peru’s anchovy fishery, the world’s largest hunting ground for this species, canceled this year’s fishing season. That’s why MSC regional manager Erin Priddle said: Policy makers must find ways to incorporate changes in fish stocks.such as differences in the distribution of offshore fish in the Northeast Atlantic in sound and long-term fisheries management plans.
Citing the Atlantic-Scandinavian herring example of the 1960s, Priddel insists, “Without effective joint planning, our fishing resources could be threatened by overexploitation, overfishing, and even population extinction.” and social consequences, many fishing and herring processing companies went bankrupt and thousands of jobs were lost.
“While there may be greater political and environmental changes ahead, we must learn from the past and make sure fisheries management is climate change prepared, resilient and adaptable.”
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