Impacts of historical warming on marine fisheries production
View ORCID ProfileChristopher M. Free1,2,*,
James T. Thorson3,4,
View ORCID ProfileMalin L. Pinsky5,
View ORCID ProfileKiva L. Oken1,6,
John Wiedenmann5,
View ORCID ProfileOlaf P. Jensen1
1Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA.
2Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA.
3Alaska Fisheries Science Center, NOAA Fisheries, Seattle, WA, USA.
4Northwest Fisheries Science Center, NOAA Fisheries, Seattle, WA, USA.
5Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA.
6School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
↵*Corresponding author. Email: cfree14{at}gmail.com
Science 01 Mar 2019:
Vol. 363, Issue 6430, pp. 979-983
DOI: 10.1126/science.aau1758
Christopher M. Free
ORCID record for Christopher M. Free
For correspondence: cfree14@gmail.com
James T. Thorson
Malin L. Pinsky
ORCID record for Malin L. Pinsky
Kiva L. Oken
ORCID record for Kiva L. Oken
John Wiedenmann
Olaf P. Jensen
ORCID record for Olaf P. Jensen
Accounting for a warming ocean
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. Free et al. used temperature-specific models and hindcasting across fish stocks to determine the degree to which warming has, and will, affect fish species (see the Perspective by Plagányi). They found that an overall reduction in yield has occurred over the past 80 years. Furthermore, although some species are predicted to respond positively to warming waters, the majority will experience a negative impact on growth. As our world warms, responsible and active management of fisheries harvests will become even more important.
Science, this issue p. 979; see also p. 930
Climate change is altering habitats for marine fishes and invertebrates, but the net effect of these changes on potential food production is unknown. We used temperature-dependent population models to measure the influence of warming on the productivity of 235 populations of 124 species in 38 ecoregions. Some populations responded significantly positively (n = 9 populations) and others responded significantly negatively (n = 19 populations) to warming, with the direction and magnitude of the response explained by ecoregion, taxonomy, life history, and exploitation history. Hindcasts indicate that the maximum sustainable yield of the evaluated populations decreased by 4.1% from 1930 to 2010, with five ecoregions experiencing losses of 15 to 35%. Outcomes of fisheries management—including long-term food provisioning—will be improved by accounting for changing productivity in a warmer ocean.
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By Christopher M. Free, James T. Thorson, Malin L. Pinsky, Kiva L. Oken, John Wiedenmann, Olaf P. Jensen
Science 01 Mar 2019 : 979-983
Climate influences on the world's fish populations are explored.
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