Fisheries and Climate Change

1
Fisheries and Climate Change
Dr. John T. Everett National Marine Fisheries
Service National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration United States Department of
Commerce
2
Existing Stresses

• Overfishing
• Pollution
• Non-native species
• Habitat loss
• Water resource management
• Natural climate variability
• UV-B radiation

3
Impacts

• Expected changes in temperature, precip., sea
  level, and ice cover are important
• CC impacts interact with existing stresses
• Northern freshwater fisheries and aquaculture
  should benefit, but with some losses also
• Marine production should be about the same but
  fishery areas and species mix will shift
• Impacts (/-) vary by species and habitats
  oceanic species less than coastal or riverine

4
Impacts - 2

• Changes in abundance are more likely near
  ecosystem boundaries
• Some species are at risk from flooding, heat, and
  changes in precip.
• Economic impacts should be small nationally.
  Locally they could be large
• If society develops the ability to deal with the
  current issues, CC impacts will be less

5
Apparent Oceanwide Synchrony in Pacific Basin
Sardines
Historical catches in the sardine fisheries of
Japan, California and Peru-Chile have exhibited
parallel patterns, possibly in response to
global-scale changes in climate (modified from
Kawasaki, 1992).
Peru/Chile
California Sardine Catch (Thousand Metric Tons)
California
Japan and Peru/Chile Sardine Catch (Million
Metric Tons)
Japan
Year
Sources U.S. GLOBEC, FAO 1995, NMFS/Our Living
Oceans 1996
6
Normalized Catch Time Series
Comparison of pink salmon catch in the Gulf of
Alaska with coho salmon catch in the Washington,
Oregon, California region (Francis and Sibley,
1991).
Standard Index
Year
7
Adaptation Options

• Implement fisheries mgt that recognizes shifting
  distributions and abundances
• Research on mgt systems and ecosystems
• Expand aquaculture to increase and stabilize
  seafood supplies and employment, and carefully,
  to augment wild stocks
• Integrate fisheries and river and shore mgt
• Monitor health problems (red tides, cholera)