A study of more than 600 species of fish from oceans around the world has found that their maximum potential body weight could decrease by as much as 20% between 2000 and 2050, due to climate change.
The study, by scientists at the University of British Columbia, provides the first-ever global projection of the potential reduction in the maximum size of fish in a warmer and less-oxygenated ocean.
The tropics is one of the most affected regions.
"We were surprised to see such a large decrease in fish size," says the study’s lead author William Cheung, an assistant professor at the UBC Fisheries Centre. "Marine fish are generally known to respond to climate change through changing distribution and seasonality. But the unexpectedly big effect that climate change could have on body size suggests that we may be missing a big piece of the puzzle of understanding climate change effects in the ocean."
This is the first global-scale application of the idea that fish growth is limited by oxygen supply, pioneered more than 30 years ago by Daniel Pauly, principal investigator with UBC’s Sea Around Us Project and the study’s co-author.
"It’s a constant challenge for fish to get enough oxygen from water to grow, and the situation gets worse as fish get bigger," explains Pauly. “A warmer and less-oxygenated ocean, as predicted under climate change, would make it more difficult for bigger fish to get enough oxygen, which means they will stop growing sooner."
Why not take out a subscription to Practical Fishkeeping magazine? See our latest subscription offer.