This chapter explores recent and future impacts of rapid temperature changes in the North Sea, identified as a ‘hot spot’ of climate change, with respect to biological, operational, and economic concerns in fisheries. The region is one of the most important fishing grounds in the world.
Nereus Fellow at Duke University Daniel Dunn attended the Sustainable Ocean Initiative (SOI) Global Dialogue with Regional Seas Organizations and Regional Fisheries Bodies on Accelerating Progress Towards the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, which took place September 26-29th, 2016 in Seoul, Republic of Korea.
‘Aliens’, ‘jelly-balls’, ‘globs’, ‘buckets of snot’, and ‘sea-walnuts’. These are the names media have used to describe salps, as mentioned by Nereus Fellow Natasha Henschke, Princeton University, in her recently published paper “Rethinking the Roles of Salps in the Ocean”.
Heatwaves are occurring not only on the land but also in the sea, notably “The Blob” in Northeast Pacific and a shorter heatwave on Australia’s west coast in 2010 and 2011. Nereus Alumnus Thomas Frölicher outlines what he calls these “two exceptional heatwaves in the ocean” in his post “Heatwaves in the ocean – a risk to ecosystems?” on the Zukunftsblog – Facts and Views on Sustainability. He discusses the impact these heatwaves have on marine species and ecosystems.
Nereus Fellow at Utrecht Richard Caddell acted as the keynote speaker at a fisheries law workshop on September 23 at Tromsø University, Tromsø, Norway.
In spring, as the plant buds push up through the ground and the days get warmer and longer, the baby salmon fry hatch out of their eggs and start swimming and feeding. At this time, their food – phytoplankton – should also bloom. But due to climate change-induced warming, the fry of many fishes, such as salmon, are coming out earlier or later, as are the phytoplankton blooms, which can cause a mismatch between when the food is available and when the fry need it.
Nereus Program research featured in Wired, NEWS 1130, The Ubyssey, and Conservation magazine.
We know the oceans are quickly changing; we are at a point in time where very different future oceans could be laid out in front of us.
Nereus Program Alumnus Andrew Merrie, Stockholm Resilience Centre, is curious about how those futures might differ. Using an innovative method called science fiction prototyping, he’s devised a set of four radical futures for global oceans and fisheries. Two of the scenarios represent more utopian futures, the other two are more dystopian. They are written as speculative fiction in different, engaging narrative styles: a travel magazine article, an obituary, the transcript of a “TED”-like talk, and a series of recovered journal entries.
Nereus Fellow at UBC Mathieu Colléter participated in the Day of the Thousandth Fisheries Scientist conference, which took place at Agrocampus Ouest in Rennes, France, on September 16.
Nereus Principal Investigator at Utrecht University Erik Molenaar and the Netherlands Institute for the Law of the Sea (NILOS) hosted a seminar on fishing in the polar regions on September 12 at Utrecht University. The event aimed to facilitate exchange of information between government agencies, industry, environmental groups, and academics in the Netherlands on various aspects of fishing in the polar regions.
