Climate Change Drives Fish Into New Waters, Remaking an Industry (wsj.com)

The catch is shifting northward as water temperatures rise, forcing crews to retool their boats and rework their businesses. From a report: Aboard the Stanley K and the Oracle, two 58-foot vessels, Buck Laukitis and his crews chase halibut across the Bering Sea worth $5 a pound at the docks. As sea temperatures rise, and Arctic ice retreats the fish appear to be avoiding warming waters, migrating northward where they cost more to reach, federal fisheries biologists say. Twice this past fall, the Oracle sailed 800 miles north from the seaport of Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands, before finding the halibut that a decade ago lived several hundred miles closer to home. Each voyage took twice as long and yielded half as many fish. "It keeps me up at night," he says. "I woke up at three in the morning. I couldn't sleep thinking about where the fish are going."

Across the continent from Mr. Laukitis in Rhode Island, black sea bass have moved in with the warming waters. The bulk once lived roughly 700 miles south off North Carolina. Now they are a staple catch in Point Judith, R.I., along with the summer flounder that also have begun appearing. [...] The impact of climate change has a price, and for fishing-boat owners in sea ports, that means following the catch. The northward movement of fish around the world is disrupting some fishing grounds and revitalizing others -- and fishing businesses are trying to adapt their operations.

The impact of temperature on oceans is varied. As the atmosphere warmed in recent decades, oceans absorbed heat unevenly, causing marine hot spots that can last months, scientists say. Spikes of warmer water affect fisheries differently depending on ocean currents, ocean depth and seafloor topography. Higher temperatures mean less dissolved oxygen in the water while increasing a fish's demand for oxygen by speeding up its metabolism. Warming water may also favor predators or drive off species on which commercial fish feed. All told, warming ocean temperatures are pushing hundreds of marine species outside of their traditional ranges, ocean scientists say.

Comments

Re:Maine is seeing this too

[serviscope_minor]

In all circumstances it's the people's choice. Bottom line people vote or refuse to vote and they get what they get.

You don't seme to realise this is Florida we're talking about. 10% of the adult population are (were? did they fix it this time round?) denied the right to vote. You can hardly blame people for the outcome when bullshit laws prevent them from affecting it.

The people didn't necessarily choose

[rsilvergun]

Florida's elections are staggeringly corrupt and pretty close. There's also a mounting of disenfranchisement. 1.5 million Floridians can't vote because of a criminal conviction. They've restored virtually noone's voting rights either. A law was passed to give 1 million of them their rights back and their corrupt legislature is blocking it. And that's just one example. There's a ton of evidence of votes not being counted, voting machines not working in left leaning districts, etc, etc.

The FL GOP is as crooked as a dog's leg. If the national media was doing it's damn job they'd all be in prison.

Algae grows best in warmer waters

[rsilvergun]

that's where climate change comes in. Red Tide due to phosphorus is a problem, but it's exacerbated by warming due to climate change. All sorts of things we used to get away with become untenable once climate change is factored in.