In 2015 Climate Change Hits the Seafood Industry
John Sackton writes how climate change impacts became the legacy of the seafood industry in 2015. Specifically, Sackton writes how warming water temperatures exacerbated the variability of seafood catches depending on the fishery. While some fisheries were noted failures from problems related to warmer ocean waters, others flourished with catches abundant. “The supply volatility that we all live with has ramped up to a new level, and it is hard to see it going backwards,” Sackton writes.
Limited access scallopers are fighting a decision by New England Fishery management to allow early entry for small boat vessels into their fishing areas. According to the challenge, the Council’s proposal fails to meet public notice requirements; provide analysis of effects for public comment; and, as an allocation issue, requires an amendment of the Fisheries Management Plan.
Renowned fishery scientist Professior Ray Hilborn comments how a story published by NPR last week missed the mark in reporting the true impact of climate change on the world’s fish stocks. "The scientific paper on which the NPR story was produced was much more subtle and did not say that fish stocks were in decline – that was invented by the authors of the NPR story", and they "got the big picture wrong, it isn’t climate change that is on the hook, it is the presence of effective fisheries management that determines the trend in abundance of fish stocks,” Hilborn says.
Finally, local seafood markets in the Pacific Northwest are reporting much higher prices for more limited supplies of Dungeness crabs during the busy holiday season. Crabs from Oregon and Washington aren’t expected to reach processors by January 4, well past the holiday market. Meanwhile, the California season remains delayed indefinitely.
CORRECTION: We erroneously attributed comments concerning Thai peeling houses to Jeff Sedacca, President of National Fish & Seafood’s Shrimp Division, which appeared in the 12/22/15 edition of the SeafoodNews.com Daily News Summary. We regret this error.
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