Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Climate and current anthropogenic impacts on fisheries

  • Published:
Climatic Change Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Human impacts on marine fisheries go back many centuries or even thousands of years in some coastal areas. Full global exploitation of the most productive fish stocks probably occurred around 1990. Many stocks have been overexploited and the assessment and management required to rein this in and to combat other human pressures, such as pollution, has been slow to mature, but is showing positive trends. The need to protect marine ecosystems for their intrinsic value and for the services they provide has also been recognised and is being embodied in legislation and turned into operational tools. As with terrestrial systems, it will not be easy to find acceptable balances between food production and conservation objectives. Climate change imposes a new set of pressures on marine ecosystems; increasing temperature, reduced salinity in some enclosed seas and coastal areas, changing windfields and seasonality, acidification, deoxygenation and rising sea level will all affect the productivity and distribution of marine life. We can detect some of the consequences already but prediction is very difficult for a variety of reasons. In spite of these difficulties it is possible to map out robust guidance on the kind of research that will help us to adapt and on the development of practices and management that will insure against future change.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Barber R (2001) Upwelling ecosystems. In: Steele JH, Thorpe SA, Turekian KK (eds) Encyclopedia of ocean sciences. Academic, London, pp 3128–3135

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Baumgartner TR, Soutar A, Ferreira-Bartrina V (1992) Reconstructions of the history of Pacific sardine and northern anchovy populations over the past two millennia from sediments of the Santa Barbara Basin, California. Calif Coop Oceanic Fish Invest Rep 33:24–40

    Google Scholar 

  • Beaugrand G et al (2003) Plankton effect on cod recruitment in the North Sea. Nature 426:661–664

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beddington JR, Agnew DJ, Clark CW (2007) Current problems in the management of marine fisheries. Science 316:1713–1716

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Björnsson B, Steinarsson A, Oddgeirsson M (2001) Optimal temperature for growth and feed conversion of immature cod (Gadus morhua L). ICES J Mar Sci 58:29–38

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brander KM (2005) Cod recruitment is strongly affected by climate when stock biomass is low. ICES J Mar Sci 62:339–343

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brander KM (2007) Climate change and food security special feature: global fish production and climate change. Proc Natl Acad Sci 104:19709–19714

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brander KM (2008a) Tackling the old familiar problems of pollution, habitat alteration and overfishing will help with adapting to climate change. Mar Pollut Bull 56:1957–1958

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brander KM (2008b) Fisheries and climate. In: Steele JH, Turekian KK, Thorpe SA (eds) Encyclopedia of ocean sciences, online edition. Elsevier.

  • Brander KM (2009) Impacts of climate change on marine ecosystems and fisheries. J Mar Biol Assoc India 51:1–13

    Google Scholar 

  • Brander KM (2010) Impacts of climate change on fisheries. J Mar Syst 79:389–402

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burrows MT et al (2011) The pace of shifting climate in marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Science 334:652–655

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooper TF, O’Leary RA, Lough JM (2012) Growth of Western Australian Corals in the Anthropocene Science 335: 593–596

  • De’Ath G, Lough JM, Fabricius KE (2009) Declining coral calcification on the Great Barrier Reef. Science 323:116–119

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Donelson JM et al (2012) Rapid transgenerational acclimation of a tropical reef fish to climate change. Nat Clim Chang 2:30–32

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Enghoff IB, MacKenzie BR, Nielsen EE (2007) The Danish fish fauna during the warm Atlantic period (ca. 7000–3900 bc): Forerunner of future changes? Fish Res 87:167–180

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • FAO (2005) Fishery Resources Division. Review of the state of world marine fishery resources. FAO Fisheries Technical Paper. No. 457. Rome, p. 235

  • FAO (2011) Fisheries Department. Review of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2010. Rome, p. 88

  • Fernand L, Brewer P (2008) Changes in surface CO2 and ocean pH in ICES shelf sea ecosystems. ICES Cooperative Research Report 290

  • Hamilton LC, Brown BC, Rasmussen RO (2003) West Greenland’s cod-to-shrimp transition: local dimensions of climatic change. ARCTIC 56:271–282

    Google Scholar 

  • Hilborn R (2012) The evolution of quantitative marine fisheries management 1985–2010. Nat Resour Model 25:122–144

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hilborn R, Quinn TP, Schindler DE, Rogers DE (2003) Biocomplexity and fisheries sustainability. Proc Natl Acad Sci 100:6564–6568

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoegh-Guldberg O et al (2007) Coral reefs under rapid climate change and ocean acidification. Science 318:1737–1742

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hollowed AB, Bond NA, Wilderbuer TK, Stockhausen WT, A’mar ZT, Beamish RJ, Overland JE, Schirripa MJ (2009) A framework for modelling fish and shellfish responses to future climate change. ICES J Mar Sci 66:1584–1594

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hsieh C, Reiss CS, Hunter JR, Beddington JR, May RM, Suguhara G (2006) Fishing elevates variability in the abundance of exploited species. Nature 443:859–862

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hutchings et al (2010) Trends in abundance of marine fishes Can. J Fish Aquat Sci 67:1205–1210

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • IPCC (2007a) Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Working Group I Contribution to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Cambridge University Press, p. 1009

  • IPCC (2007b) Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Working Group II Contribution to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Cambridge University Press, p. 976

  • Jackson JBC et al (2001) Historical overfishing and the recent collapse of coastal ecosystems. Science 293:629–637

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jacobson LD, De Oliveira JAA, Barange M, Félix-Uraga R, Hunter JR, Kim JY, Ñiquen M, Porteiro C, Rothschild BJ, Sanchez RP, Serra R, Uriarte A, Wada T (2001) Surplus production, variability, and climate change in the great sardine and anchovy fisheries. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 58:1891–1903

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jensen AS (1939) Concerning a change of climate during recent decades in the Arctic and SubArctic regions, from Greenland in the west to Eurasia in the east, and contemporary biological and geophysical changes. Det Kgl Danske Videnskabernes Selskab. Biologiske Medd XIV, p. 75

  • Lehodey P (2001) The pelagic ecosystem of the tropical Pacific Ocean: dynamic spatial modelling and biological consequences of ENSO. Progr Oceanogr 49:439–469

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lehodey P, Chai F, Hampton J (2003) Modelling climate-related variability of tuna populations from a coupled ocean biogeochemical-populations dynamics model. Fish Oceanogr 12:483–494

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McPhaden MJ, Zhang D (2002) Slowdown of the meridional overturning circulation in the upper Pacific Ocean. Nature 603–608

  • Miller K et al (2012) Climate change, uncertainty, and resilient fisheries: institutional responses through integrative science. Progr Oceanogr 87:338–346

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neat F, Wright P, Zuur A, Gibb I, Gibb F, Tulett D, Righton D, Turner R (2006) Residency and depth movements of a coastal group of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua L.). Marine Biol 148:643–654

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ojaveer H, MacKenzie BR (2007) Historical development of fisheries in northern Europe—Reconstructing chronology of interactions between nature and man. Fish Res 87:102–105

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olsen EM et al (2010) Spawning stock and recruitment in North Sea cod shaped by food and climate. Proc R Soc B 278:504–510

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ottersen G, Hjermann DØ, Stenseth NC (2006) Changes in spawning stock structure strengthen the link between climate and recruitment in a heavily fished cod (Gadus morhua) stock. Fish Oceanogr 15:230–243

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perry RI, Cury P, Brander K, Jenning S, Möllmann C, Planque B (2010) Sensitivity of marine systems to climate and fishing: concepts, issues and management responses. J Mar Syst 79:427–435

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Plaganyi E et al (2011) Assessing the adequacy of current fisheries management under changing climate: a southern synopsis. ICES J Mar Sci 68:1305–1317

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Planque B, Fromentin J-M, Cury P, Drinkwater KF, Jennings S, Perry RI, Kifani S (2010) How does fishing alter marine populations and ecosystems sensitivity to climate? J Mar Syst 68:403–417

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pörtner H-O (2010) Oxygen- and capacity-limitation of thermal tolerance: a matrix for integrating climate-related stressor effects in marine ecosystems. J Exp Biol 213:881–893

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pörtner H-O et al (2007) Climate change affects marine fishes through the oxygen limitation of thermal tolerance. Science 315:95–97

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Righton DA et al (2010) Thermal niche of Atlantic cod Gadus morhua: limits, tolerance and optima. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 420:1–13

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rogers LA et al (2011) Climate and population density drive changes in cod body size throughout a century on the Norwegian coast. Proc Natl Acad Sci 108:1961–1966

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenberg AA, Bolster WJ, Alexander KE, Leavenworth WB, Cooper AB, McKenzie MG (2005) The history of ocean resources: modeling cod biomass using historical records. Front Ecol Environ 3:78–84

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sarmiento JL, Slater R, Barber R et al (2005) Response of ocean ecosystems to climate warming. Global Biogeochem Cycles 18. doi:10.1029/2003GB002134 23 pp

  • Shaffer G, Olsen SM, Pedersen JOP (2009) Long-term ocean oxygen depletion in response to carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels. Nat Geosci 2:105–109

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith DM, Cusack S, Colman AW, Folland CK, Harris GR, Murphy JM (2007) Improved surface temperature prediction for the coming decade from a global climate model. Science 317:796–799

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stock CA et al (2011) On the use of IPCC-class models to assess the impact of climate on Living Marine Resources. Progr Oceanogr 88(2011):1–27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • TEEB (2010) The economics of ecosystems and biodiversity: mainstreaming the economics of nature: a synthesis of the approach, conclusions and recommendations of TEEB

  • Worm B et al (2009) Rebuilding global fisheries. Science 325:578–585

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

I would like to acknowledge the wide-ranging discussions during the International Workshop on Climate and Ocean Fisheries in Rarotonga in October 2011. Three anonymous referees provided valuable comments and editorial suggestions for improvements to the paper.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Keith Brander.

Additional information

This article is part of the Special Issue on "Climate and Oceanic Fisheries" with Guest Editor James Salinger.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Brander, K. Climate and current anthropogenic impacts on fisheries. Climatic Change 119, 9–21 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-012-0541-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-012-0541-2

Keywords

Navigation