Warming Seas Could Push Some Fish Species To Limit: Study
Author: David Fogarty A Cheilodactylus spectabilis (St Helens)
Banded morwong is seen in this undated handout. Photo:
Reuters/Rick Stuart-Smith/University of Tasmania/Handout Rapidly
warming ocean temperatures in some parts of the world could be
pushing some fish species to the limit, stunting their growth,
increasing stress and raising the risk of death, a study shows.
An Australian study, published on Monday in the journal Nature
Climate Change, focused on the long-lived fish species called
the banded morwong in the Tasman Sea, between Australia and New
Zealand. Scientists, using long-term and current data, found
that the morwong's growth in some areas has been slowed by a
jump in sea surface temperatures of nearly 2 degrees Celsius
over the past 60 years in the Tasman Sea, one of the most rapid
increases in the southern hemisphere's oceans. The results have
implications for other fish species, including commercial
fisheries, as seas heat up and beco