An upcoming report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will delve into how climate change is affecting the planet’s cryosphere and oceans, including marine ecosystems.

Dr Phillip Williamson, one of the authors involved in the report, noted that climate change threats to fisheries are local and global.

Dr Williamson, who is from the Natural Environment Research Council and University of East Anglia, said the decline in ocean productivity has been estimated to be between 4% and 10% within 30 years, depending on the success of slashing greenhouse gas emissions.

Temperature effects are mostly indirect with changes in ocean circulation patterns affecting nutrients and the abundance of smaller plants and animals in marine food webs.

But temperature can affect where fish are found, since each species has its preferred temperature range where reproduction and growth are most successful.

The impact of ocean warming on the distribution of marine species often commercially fished for seafood, such as the market squid (Doryteuthis opalescens), can already be felt, said Mr Kwan.

Dr Williamson said that warming oceans could further interact with other climate change effects.

Marine biologist Neil Hutchinson, from the Singapore campus of James Cook University, said many species of fish are already overfished.

More research is needed to develop strategies on how fisheries and fishermen can mitigate and adapt to these challenges, he said.

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Source: The Straits Times, 21 September 2019