Changes in fish distribution and species composition as a result
of climatic changes in the East Greenland Ecosystem: implications for
fisheries and management
The East Greenland ecosystem has been influenced by
warming in the North Atlantic in recent years. As a consequence, there
were distinct changes in the distribution and composition of the fish
fauna in this area. The aim of this project is to investigate the
functional relationships of climatic and biological changes and to
estimate their impact on the fish stocks, fishing and
fisheries management.
Background and Objective
As a region with adjoining cold and warm water masses, the
East Greenland Ecosystem (EGrE) is one of the first to be affected by
climatic changes. Several countries have been fishing in the EGrE for
decades (e.g. Germany, Greenland, and Norway), primarily for Greenland
halibut, cod and redfish. In recent years, new fisheries have been
developed following shifts in fish species distribution, and including
new and previously unexploited species entering the ecosystem. Predicted
large scale hydrodynamic changes induced by changes in climate are
expected to affect both vertical and horizontal distribution of fish and
marine organisms. Information on the potential impacts of climate
change on deep water fisheries is generally lacking, with additional
effects of fishing being even more illusive.
“CLIMA” will utilise a wide collection of survey data brought into
the project by the partners, providing an outstanding basis for
conducting focused studies on target species and their response to
variability of climatic change parameters over time. Furthermore, the
project will collect new data from ongoing surveys. Studies on potential
changes in trophic relationships will give valuable information also on
species at lower levels of the system’s food web. In order to make
predictions on future food web components and dynamics, long-term
analyses will include current as well as historical trophic data and
long-term variability in fish abundance to be correlated with relevant
climate parameters. This type of meta-data analysis has the potential to
improve the baseline for future sustainable management, whilst
addressing future challenges of migrating fish stocks (mobile fish stock
management). Establishment of such a baseline will contribute to
transparent and robust management to support fisheries, processing
industries and export/marketing forces.
Target Group
Science, Fisheries and Politics
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