next up previous
Next: Direct Human Impacts Up: Climate Change Impacts Previous: Unmanaged Terrestrial Biosphere

Impacts on Fisheries

The association of fluctuations of the anchovy harvest off the coast of South America with El Ni¤o events is well known, and fluctuations in the catch of salmon and steelhead in the northeastern Pacific are sometimes associated with such events [ Neitzel, et al., 1991]. A summary of studies of climate impacts on fisheries has been prepared by Glantz and Feingold [1992]. Murawski [1993] has shown that the present distribution of fish populations with water temperature can be used to estimate shifts in fish location resulting from climate change.

More generally, coastal ecosystems, including some fish species, could be impacted by a climate change, and studies indicate the variety of impacts and interactions that would be involved [ Alaback and McClellan, 1993; Reid and Trexler, 1992].



U.S. National Report to IUGG, 1991-1994
Rev. Geophys. Vol. 33 Suppl., © 1995 American Geophysical Union