The World is Losing Fish to Eat as Oceans Warm, Study Finds (nytimes.com)
Fish populations are declining as oceans warm, putting a key source of food and income at risk for millions of people around the world, according to research published last week. From a report: The study found that the amount of seafood that humans could sustainably harvest from a wide range of species shrank by 4.1 percent from 1930 to 2010, a casualty of human-caused climate change. "That 4 percent decline sounds small, but it's 1.4 million metric tons of fish from 1930 to 2010," said Chris Free, the lead author of the study, which appears in the journal Science. Scientists have warned that global warming will put pressure on the world's food supplies in coming decades. But the new findings -- which separate the effects of warming waters from other factors, like overfishing -- suggest that climate change is already having a serious impact on seafood.
[...] As the oceans have warmed, some regions have been particularly hard-hit. In the northeast Atlantic Ocean and the Sea of Japan, fish populations declined by as much as 35 percent over the period of the study. "The ecosystems in East Asia have seen some of the largest decline in fisheries productivity," Dr. Free said. "And that region is home to some of the largest growing human populations and populations that are highly dependent on seafood."
[...] As the oceans have warmed, some regions have been particularly hard-hit. In the northeast Atlantic Ocean and the Sea of Japan, fish populations declined by as much as 35 percent over the period of the study. "The ecosystems in East Asia have seen some of the largest decline in fisheries productivity," Dr. Free said. "And that region is home to some of the largest growing human populations and populations that are highly dependent on seafood."
Something is fishy with this study.... Just say'n....
"File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
"The added burden of climate change to poorly managed and overfished stocks" would have been a crappy headline so they couldn't even add the first couple of lines of the article to the description.
Fisheries provide food and support livelihoods across the world. They are also under extreme pressure, with many stocks overfished and poorly managed. Climate change will add to the burden fish stocks bear, but such impacts remain largely unknown.
This study has a lot of issues. Now I'm not saying we watch what is going on with the ocean and the fish. I am saying there might be some difference in technology from 1930 till now. So there might be some issues with the stat this entire study is based.
Also, just to blame all this on oceans warming is really irresponsible. Gee there couldn't be any other factors, like how much we fish, pollutants, etc.
But, if you put that in your paper, then you will get more funding. Follow the dirty money...