Water too warm for cod in US Gulf of Maine as stocks near collapse

[herding cats]

Source: The Guardian

Waters in the north-west Atlantic have warmed 99% faster than the rest of the world’s oceans in the past decade due to changes in the Gulf Stream and Pacific

A rapid warming of the Gulf of Maine off the eastern United States has made the water too warm for cod, pushing stocks towards collapse despite deep reductions in the number of fish caught, a US study has shown.
Maine lobster and Cape cod under threat from rapidly warming seas
Read more

The Gulf of Maine had warmed faster than 99% of the rest of the world’s oceans in the past decade, influenced by shifts in the Atlantic Gulf Stream, changes in the Pacific Ocean and a wider trend of climate change, it said.

Scientists said the findings showed a need to take more account of changing water temperatures in managing global fish stocks usually based on historical data of catches


Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/oct/30/water-too-warm-for-cod-in-us-gulf-of-maine-as-stocks-near-collapse

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That pesky Gulf Stream needs Republicans to go throw snowballs into it! I'm sure that would teach it a lesson.

[Uncle Joe]

1. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, herding cats.

[msongs]

2. quit eating fish. there ya go nt

[CreekDog]

7. you can't be serious

though you have posted some doozies, so I'm not sure.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1127&pid=89177

for instance, you didn't even know what you were talking about in that example.

[GliderGuider]

12. Eating fish has become a moral issue at this point.

The ocean fish may only have until 2050 until all the top predators will be gone. This isn't scientifically controversial any more.

At the same time, 95% of the wild land animal biomass is gone, forced out of the picture by the growth in numbers of people, cattle and pigs. We're getting near the end-game for the animal portions of the biosphere.

[CreekDog]

13. I'm arguing with her dismissive attitude towards the problem

and the other post I pointed out is the same kind of post about a significant environmental problem.

[GliderGuider]

14. OK. I find it hard to distinguish callous dismissal from irony on the net.

I tend to assume statements like that are ironic, because nobody in their right mind could tell ocean-dependent coastal nations to just stop eating fish. But I guess I also assume that most people are in their right minds, which isn't supported by the facts either.

[wordpix]

15. I agree, not to mention ocean pollution you ingest thru the food chain

I occasionally have a few sardines for the omega-3's but that's maybe 2x/year. That's it. No mercury and chemical poisons from fish, at least.

[restorefreedom]

22. + 1000

the days of humans eating animals at will are coming to an end. the planet and our very own lives depend on it.

"if the oceans die, we die." --paul watson, founder of the sea shepherd society

[restorefreedom]

23. it won't be an option for much longer

land animals either

animal agriculture is one of the biggest polluters and causes of greenhouse gases on the planet. And we are seriously overfishing the waters. A plant-based diet for most of the world is going to be imperative if we want to save our planet and our own lives.

then again, the people in power might be too greedy selfish or stupid to care about the future of the planet, in which case we will all die. And the problem will solve itself.

[Yallow]

3. 30 Years Oceans Mostly Dead - No More Seafood - Period

But nothing in the press.....

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/11/061102-seafood-threat.html

[Sunlei]

4. They've moved North. Canada will benefit from global warming and the loss of sea ice.

Isn't there an ocean fish that likes warmer water?

[ffr]

5. Normally, or should I say, in the past I would have cared

But anymore, it's like, i'll be dead by then and all these phuckers who choose to deny science are going to phuck us and future generations every step along the way if it upsets their profit model, so why should I even try anymore?

But, I feel for Earth's other species. I feel awful still that our human capacity has failed us. I don't eat fish anymore, but they're still dying and the RIGHT is still denying.

[flamingdem]

6. What is New England

without cod.

It's all too much, am numb at this point.

[Historic NY]

8. In additional they have been overfishing, while denying the result.

http://www.talkingfish.org/newengland-fisheries/fish-styx-the-convenience-of-denying-the-death-of-atlantic-cod

[Sunlei]

9. actually the USA has been pretty good at controlling fishing industry. inside our waters.

Though we have no control of the massive overfishing right outside our waters.

[wordpix]

16. huge issue, this has been going on since trawlers, gill nets & the like

were invented.

Not to mention, radar

[Live and Learn]

10. We need to take climate change seriously.

Bernie is the only one currently running to do so.

[reddread]

24. we need to take seriously the fact our government betrayed us on the ultimate issue

exxon was hardly the only one with the facts.

[bearssoapbox]

11. I was reading an article about the ice melt in Greenland and found this

I'm not saying that the cod are doing ok, just thought it was an interesting read after seeing your post. I agree that the oceans are being depleted of fish and polluted, possibly beyond repair. Incidences like this comeback of cod and other marine life will become the rarity in the future.

http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/10.1139/cjfas-2015-0346#.VjIVhberTqA

Northern cod comeback

George A. Rose,* Sherrylynn Rowe

Centre for Fisheries Ecosystems Research, Fisheries and Marine Institute, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL A1C 5R3, Canada.

Corresponding author: George A. Rose (e-mail: [e-mail]).

*Present address: 4843 Cutlass Crt., Pender Island, BC V0N 2M2 Canada.

Published on the web 27 October 2015.

Received July 19, 2015. Accepted October 1, 2015.

Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 10.1139/cjfas-2015-0346

Abstract

The great “northern” cod (Gadus morhua) stock, formerly among the world’s largest and the icon for depletion and supposed nonrecovery of marine fishes, is making a major comeback after nearly two decades of attrition and fishery moratorium. Using acoustic-trawl surveys of the main prespawning and spawning components of the stock, we show that biomass has increased from tens of thousands of tonnes to >200 thousand tonnes within the last decade. The increase was signalled by massive schooling behaviour in late winter first observed in 2008 in the southern range of the stock (Bonavista Corridor) after an absence for 15 years, perhaps spurred by immigration. Increases in size composition and fish condition and apparent declines in mortality followed, leading to growth rates approaching 30% per annum. In the spring of 2015, large increases in cod abundance and size composition were observed for the first time since the moratorium in the more northerly spawning groups of this stock complex. The cod rebound has paralleled increases in the abundance of capelin (Mallotus villosus), whose abundance declined rapidly in the cold early 1990s but has recently increased during a period of warm ocean temperatures. With continued growth in the capelin stock and frugal management (low fishing mortality), this stock could rebuild, perhaps within less than a decade, to historical levels of sustainable yield. More generally, if this stock can recover, the potential exists for recovery of many other depleted stocks worldwide.

Here's the article about the ice melting in Greenland.

It is a good read and more than a little disconcerting.

Personally, I think that the "Gulf Stream Engine" has already been altered, possibly beyond repair, and the next few decades will radically change the weather along the east coast of the U.S., England and western Europe.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/10/27/world/greenland-is-melting-away.html

Yes, Senator Snowball will fix it.

[olddots]

17. anyone with a brain has known about this for 40 years

The repukians won't ever figure it out or admit we humans are the worst thing that can happen to a planet ..

[reddread]

18. this will be the death of us

much more than a keystone.
stupid humans.

[Yupster]

20. I just read a story last night on Yahoo news about

how the cod recovery has been heartening since the fishing ban was established and this year for the first time, cod were again seen swarming in some of their old living space.

Now I get this completely opposite story. How can that be in one day's time?

[Igel]

21. Context.

Overall versus in a particular fishery.

Ocelots are nearly extinct in the US. They're relegated to a small preserve on the Mexican-side of the US border fence--in the US, but the fence doesn't follow the border. They're severely protected.

On the other hand, internationally they're "of least concern" because their populations aren't even vulnerable or threatened from N. Mexico down through Brazil.

So which is it? Nearly extinct and in need of dire protection or their status isn't of concern because their populations are more than adequate? Depends on your frame of reference.

Cod's making a comeback. Cod's collapsing in the Maine fishery. Overall versus in a specific area. Context and perspective are key.