Climate change impact on fishery
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Climate change impact on fishery

Marine ecosystems are sensitive to climate change because their component species' distributions will change, leading to new kinds and intensities of interactions between species.

General changes in key atmospheric parameters can have fundamental consequences for ocean currents, including their role in  important feedback mechanisms on regional climate patterns (e. g. a possible weakening of the Gulf Stream as a part of the Meridional Overturning Circulation in the North Atlantic).  In addition, changes in the role and capacity of the oceans for absorbing CO2, and how these changes will affect ocean acidification, can potentially have fundamental impacts on marine ecosystems, including their living resources which are the basis for commercially important fisheries (MacKenzie and Visser, 2001).

Increasing water temperature together with increased precipitation and runoff from land, changed wind patterns and acidification of the oceans will lead to changes in the structure and function of marine ecosystems near Denmark and abroad. Some species will benefit from climate changes, while others will experience reduced growth and survival.  Increased precipitation could lead to increased export of fertilizer nutrients from agriculture to fjords and coastal areas, leading to an increase in the frequency and duration of anoxia events and their negative impacts on fish.

Changes in climate conditions can increase stresses on species and populations that are already threatened and will make it difficult to rebuild these species and populations to sustainable levels.  Salmon and trout, whose eggs and larvae develop in running water (e. g., streams, rivers) will be particularly sensitive to temperature changes, and reproductive success of cod in the eastern Baltic will also be affected by hydrographic changes caused by climate change.

Warmer temperatures can promote the abundance of new species, such as anchovy and hake, which could open new fishery possibilities, but warmer temperatures will also promote new types of pathogenic bacteria and toxic algae, which can threaten fish and shellfish populations as well as human food supplies from the sea. These impacts also apply to sea culture of rainbow trout, which may no longer be feasible in Danish waters due to rising temperatures. In addition, acidification of the oceans can be a significant threat against wild mussel and other shellfish populations, as well as their sea-based culture.

Senest redigeret: 01-04-2021