High-value US West Coast stocks may migrate out of reach due to climate change

Published 2023년 12월 14일

Tridge summary

NOAA research predicts that sablefish, dover sole, and shortspine thornyhead will migrate to deeper offshore waters along the US West Coast due to climate change, requiring fishery managers to adapt their strategies. These species account for a large proportion of the groundfish caught off the West Coast and are expected to shift their habitats toward deeper offshore waters, which poses a significant challenge for fishers. The current groundfish management plan prohibits fishing below 700 fathoms, raising concerns that these valuable species may descend below that level and fishery managers must rethink regulations to balance preservation of stocks and their habitats with ensuring revenue.

Disclaimer:The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

Recent NOAA research forecasts that three high-value groundfish species will migrate toward deeper offshore waters along the United States West Coast due to climate change in the near future, which will likely require fishery managers to adapt their strategies in response.NOAA’s study, “Species redistribution creates unequal outcomes for multispecies fisheries under projected climate change” was published in the peer-reviewed journal Science Advances in August 2023. It shows that sablefish, dover sole, and shortspine thornyhead are projected to migrate to deeper offshore waters, posing challenges for fishers that may need to travel longer distances and fish at greater depths or shift their operations completely to target more accessible species.“Together, these are a large proportion of the groundfish caught off the West Coast, so they provide some indication of how things may change and the choices those changes present for the fishing community,” Northwest Fisheries Science ...

Source: Seafoodsource