Warming E. Coast Atlantic Rapidly Disrupting Mackerel Breeding & Migration Patterns

[hatrack]

Cyclical changes in Atlantic weather patterns and a general warming of seawater the East Coast of the U.S. is changing the distribution patterns of Atlantic mackerel, important for commercial and recreational fisheries in the region. The environmentally-driven shift in distribution patterns will probably make it more difficult to find and catch Atlantic mackerel in certain areas in the future, according to a recent paper by a team of NOAA researchers.

Mackerel migrate long distances to feed and spawn and are sensitive to changes in water temperature. The changes observed by NOAA researchers mean mackerel populations are shifting northward and spreading out, as areas with suitable water temperatures expand.

“Atlantic mackerel is one of many species shifting their distribution range as a result of changing oceanographic and environmental patterns,” said co-author Jon Hare, of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) laboratory in Narragansett, R.I. “Those include regional temperature changes from year to year and larger scale environmental forces or climate drivers such as the North Atlantic Oscillation and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation,” he added, referring to two cyclical atmospheric patterns that affect winds and ocean currents in the Atlantic Basin.

“Our findings suggest that both the commercial and recreational Atlantic mackerel fisheries in the United States will probably be faced with more variable resource conditions in the future in terms of the winter distribution of the stock,” Hare said. “The continental shelf is warming, increasing the area over which the stock can be distributed, while at the same time the distribution of the stock is shifting northward.”

EDIT

http://summitcountyvoice.com/2011/08/15/global-warming-rising-sea-temps-displacing-fish-populations/