Climate Change
and
Marine Fish Distribution Shifts
John Mercier
Biology 407W
Dr. McLeod
November 4, 2013
i
Table of Contents
Table of Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i
Abstract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
General Climate Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1-2
Recent Climate Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-5
Ocean Warming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-6
Marine Fish Distribution shifts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6-7
Plankton’s effect on Fish. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7-8
Fish Deepening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8-9
Fisheries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-10
Salmon Dilemma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-12
Jellyfish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 12
Consequences of fish distribution shifts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12-14
Future predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14-15
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-16
Appendix of Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .iii-ix
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x
Literature Cited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xi-xiii
ii
Abstract
Climate change has warmed the oceans in the recent years faster than it has the
global land surfaces. This can be attributed to a number of causes: earth’s orbital flexibly,
sun sequences, green house gases, natural water cycles, and the ever increasing human
caused global warming factors. The rapid warming of the planet is affecting all life, but,
in particular, it is having a profound effect on the organisms living in the largest natural
biome—the ocean. The average global temperature has warmed by almost 0.7 degrees
Celsius since 1880 with a two-thirds occurring in the past 35 years. The fish of the ocean
are adjusting to this environmental change by searching out cooler waters via shifting
distributions to the poles or diving deeper, sometimes preforming both. The question that
comes to mind is what effect will this have on other organisms and humans. Fish are a
major source of food and nutrition to world populations and researchers are saying that if
these trends continue to rise and proliferate we might have to look at other available
aquatic food sources to replace fish as well as dealing with devastating community
interactions disrupted by displaced fish.