Tracking fish populations
16 Dec 2014
The Black Sea Bass is one of the species on the move to find cooler waters. Photo: NOAA
A new online database to track fish populations aims to help fishermen and fisheries managers to adapt as the oceans get warmer.
As the climate changes and the oceans get warmer, fish are moving in search of cooler waters which can have a great impact on fishing livelihoods.
Now a new website called OceanAdapt has been launched on the back of studies conducted in 2013 which looked at more than 350 fish species from all over North America, including the Black Sea Bass. The studies found that many species are on the move and that their movements closely track changing ocean temperatures.
“We found that all over North America, marine fish and invertebrates are shifting their distributions quite rapidly,” said Malin Pinsky, a biologist at Rutgers University.
His study compiled data from more than 40 years of surveys conducted by scientists at NOAA Fisheries, Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans and other organisations. These studies were designed to produce estimates of fish abundance that managers use when setting catch limits. All of the information has now been brought together in one place on OceanAdapt.
OceanAdapt should be a valuable tool for fishermen, fishery managers and scientists who are grappling with the challenge of adapting to a changing climate. Users of the new website can search and download data on the geographic and depth ranges of more than 650 species of fish and invertebrates and track how those distributions have changed over time.
Links to related companies and recent articles ...
NOAA
- Electronic reporting for sablefish
- NOAA grants for threatened species recovery
- Final rule for electronic reporting of trade data
- Final rule for electronic reporting of trade data
- US makes continued progress on fish stock sustainability
- Ocean conditions affect salmon prey
- The West Coast challenge
- NOAA announces marine debris cleanup funding
- NOAA’s first national bycatch report out
- Obama: BP will pay for ‘oil spill epidemic’
- NOAA takes steps to improve fisheries law enforcement
- NOAA award to support Pacific coral reef protection efforts
- NOAA and fishermen cooperate on monkfish migration research
- Calls for responsible increase in red snapper catch levels
- NOAA takes delivery of new fisheries survey vessel
- New assistant administrator for NOAA Fisheries
- NOAA provides $10m to support New England groundfish fishery
- Control dates for king and Spanish mackerel fisheries of the Gulf of Mexico
- NOAA lists Pacific smelt as threatened
- USA: Fishing industry and government on a colliding course?
- Progress made in rebuilding and sustaining US fisheries and ocean ecosystems
- NOAA launches interactive MPA mapping tool
- NOAA seeks comments on proposed rule
- NOAA awards $73.6m contract for new fisheries survey vessel
- NOAA requests comment on fish imports and marine mammals
- Deepwater Horizon spill closes Gulf Coast fisheries
- NOAA modifies fishing closure
- NOAA further extends Gulf closed area
- NOAA starts baseline sampling for oil spill assessment
- Kevin Costner’s ‘Ocean Therapy’ machines tackle Gulf spill
- BP spill closed area grows again
- One-third of Gulf of Mexico now closed
- BP boss confident of Gulf clean-up
- NOAA: Slightly less overfishing in the US
- NOAA reopens fishing area in Gulf of Mexico
- BP oil spill: fishing closure increases to 36%
- 8,000 square miles of Gulf fishing closed area reopened
- US releases first subsea BP spill report
- US fishermen's wives join anti-oil demos
- BP oil spill costs pass $3bn mark
- Senator demands NOAA sell unauthorised assets
- Congressmen call for Lubchenco's resignation
- NOAA reopens one-third of closed Gulf
- Storm Bonnie halts BP spill clean up
- NOAA reopens further 5,000sq miles of Gulf
- NOAA reopens more oil spill areas
- California salmon disaster continues
- Gulf fisheries get $26m for promotion
- Seattle to host symposium on energy use in fisheries
- NOAA opens more Gulf waters to fishing
- BP spill: NOAA reopens more fishing areas
- US west coast fishermen sent catch share applications
- New rule denies IUU boats entry to US
- NOAA reopens further 7,000 sq miles of Gulf
- NOAA seeks comments on proposed reduced harvest of gag
- US looks for new law enforcement chief
- Bluefin tuna hit hard by BP oil disaster
- NOAA cuts king mackerel catch
- Top US seaport’s mayor calls for investigation of NOAA, NMFS and NEFMC
- Another Gulf oil spill area reopens
- Shrimp trawlers face huge fines for fishing in closed BP oil spill area
- BP oil spill: NOAA closes shrimp fishery
- Alaska king crab research nets $460,000
- Aleutian mackerel, cod fishing restricted
- America sues BP over Gulf oil spill
- Pacific cod, pollock limits increased
- Alaska sues government over Aleutian fishing ban
- NOAA assists entangled right whale
- NOAA launches website on Deepwater Horizon oil spill
- Thriving 'middle light' reefs found in Puerto Rico
- NOAA to work with six identified nations to address IUU fishing
- Scientists use sedation to help disentangle North Atlantic right whale
- New Assistant Administrator for NOAA
- NOAA seeks comment on amberjack rule
- Mackerel limit to remain at 50 per day
- NOAA investigates seafood mislabelling
- Royal red shrimp fishing waters reopened in Gulf of Mexico
- US releases draft aquaculture policies
- Florida closed to King Mackerel harvest
- Spatial planning flunks first major test
- US turning a corner in ending overfishing
- Increased management measures for halibut
- NOAA raises butterfish catch
- 33% increase for spiny dogfish quota
- King mackerel hook-and-line fishing prohibited in southern Florida
- Testing continues on Gulf seafood
- ‘Weak’ hooks protect bluefin tuna but allow yellowfin and swordfish catch
- King mackerel fishing closed in northern Florida west coast subzone
- Higher catch limits for New England
- New NOAA compliance assistance liaison
- All DH oil spill waters now open
- Commerce Dept appoints fisheries advisors
- NOAA to update safety guidelines
- Temporary rule to reset gag quota
- Proposals to raise scallop catch limits
- Waters off Texas closed to shrimping
- US and China agree to increase fisheries cooperation
- States authorised to remove sea lions
- NOAA encourages fishermen to release shortfin mako sharks alive
- Fishery penalties returned to 11 fishermen
- NOAA: Atlantic bluefin not endangered
- NOAA issues emergency action
- US aquaculture policies released
- Keel-laying ceremony for Reuben Lasker
- NOAA sets fishing quotas for bluefin tuna
- Commercial shrimp fishery to re-open off Texas on 15 July
- NOAA report sees job growth
- US adopts IUU recommendation
- NOAA approves scallop catch limit
- Buckson new NOAA director
- Atlantic herring population trends linked to egg predation by haddock
- Grouper and tilefish IFQ legal
- US seafood landings and values increase
- Iceland encouraged to change whale policy
- Loggerhead sea turtle listing revised
- Between Lubchenco and Damanaki
- US regrets Japan’s whaling decision
- NOAA increases Northeast skate quota
- New bill to protect US fishermen
- NOAA grant to prevent ciguatera poisoning
- New NOAA Fisheries head
- New appointment to regional council
- Study examines NOAA catch shares
- Studies on sustaining US fishing industry
- New measures for Gulf of Maine cod
- New app helps mariners avoid whales
- Recovery plans for endangered whales
- US: Record number of rebuilt fisheries
- Eight per cent of US waters protected
- NOAA increases Gulf of Mexico red snapper catch limit
- Gray triggerfish harvest to close 1 July
- NOAA fisheries survey vessel launched
- NOAA adjusts yellowtail flounder quotas
- Western Gulf of Mexico closing to king mackerel commercial fishing
- New survey finds juvenile scallops abundant
- Fisheries disasters declared in USA
- Effects of ocean acidification researched
- US seafood landings reach 17-year high
- No confidence in groundfish assessments
- NOAA withdraws TED proposal
- NOAA administrator to leave in Feb
- NOAA working with nations to address IUU fishing
- Managing ecosystems on three levels
- Fish and fishermen benefit from marine reserve
- NOAA research to protect Caribbean fish stocks
- Speakers announced for fisheries conference
- US fishing generated $199 billion in 2011
- NOAA tuna label misleads consumers
- New ocean acidification study
- NOAA names new assistant administrator
- Valuable US stocks rebuilt
- Groundbreaking video technology to improve stock surveys
- NOAA seeks input on process for new marine sanctuaries
- NOAA proposes opening closed areas
- NOAA acidification study
- King mackerel fishery closure
- Grants awarded for bycatch reduction
- King mackerel fishery to re-open for two days
- US seafood landings remain high
- NOAA fisheries survey vessel delivered
- NOAA: Fish farms can be sustainable
- New appointments for NOAA
- Eileen Sobeck named new head of NOAA Fisheries
- $75m disaster relief for US fisheries
- Conference recognises importance of fishermen’s data
- Ships set sail for NOAA survey season
- NOAA study helps protect right whales
- Loggerheads protected
- Alaskan ocean acidification
- NOAA regulations to protect bluefin
- Tracking fish populations
- NOAA satellites help rescue 240 people last year
- King mackerel fishery closes 5 Feb
- NOAA identifies IUU countries
- Cod compromise reached in US
- Presidential Task Force releases IUU action plan
- Sea scallop research
- Arctic cod spawned and hatched in captivity
- WSC to examine industry regulations
- Mislabelled shrimp case ends in conviction
- NOAA fisheries grants available
- Up to $10m in fisheries grants available
- Alaska celebrates eLandings milestones
- NOAA funds marine debris removal projects
- Seaweed key to mitigating ocean acidification
- Protecting US marine resources
- Women in fisheries: an issue, an agenda
- US fisheries: Frustration, indignation, uproar
- Longlining success
- Community Fishing Projects: Can they work in Britain?
- Can fisheries be managed rationally?
- Catch shares – who to believe?
- Why monitoring makes sense
- New name, new game?
- Old data digitised for modern scientists
- Jaws!
Images for this article - click to enlarge
Image copyright © Mercator Media 2017, or image used with permission of the copyright holder unless otherwise stated.