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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.
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.
I live in Florida in the Midst of the Red Tide Area of Sarasota.... The issue with Red Tide IS NOT a climate issue. Its Phosphorus miners dumping MASSIVE AMOUNTS of Phosphorus waste into the Rivers and Channels that lead to the bay. The Overabundance of their favorite food, PHOSPHORUS, makes the red algae reproduce and grow out of control. Choking the local flora and fauna out, as well as causing noxious fumes from their death on the shores, making being at the beach difficult, as it stings to breathe. The Red Tide, has ZERO to do with "Climate Change" Not to say that there are not other good examples where climate change IS the cause, this just isn't one of them.
And yet Florida rewards the governor who refuse to check the miners with a Senate seat. Florida deserves this.
Elections have consequences. If the people chose to vote for people that will do this to them then that is their choice. If the people who live in Fla fail to go out and vote for the people that wants to do something about this rather than the people who calls it a hoax and refuse to deal with the miners then that is their choice. In all circumstances it's the people's choice. Bottom line people vote or refuse to vote and they get what they get.
This is the same issue with the Great Barrier Reef; our farmers here are dumping massive amounts of phosphorus runoff which is negatively affecting the reef. In tests where this runoff has been abated, the Reef has bounced back with surprising resilience.
Again, ZERO to do with climate change. Everything to do with farmers, and in most cased industrialized farming.
-Styopa