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Global Climate Change Digest
A Guide to Information on Greenhouse Gases and Ozone Depletion
Published July 1988 through June 1999

FROM VOLUME 4, NUMBER 3, MARCH 1991

PROFESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS...
EFFECTS ON FISHERIES

The following two special issues have been published by the American Fisheries Society (5410 Grosvenor Ln., Bethesda MD 20814; 301-530-8502).

Item #d91mar10

Fisheries, 15(6), Nov.-Dec. 1990.

"From Global to Regional Climate Change: Relative Knowns and Unknowns about Global Warming," J.B. Smith (Off. Policy Anal., US EPA, 401 M St. SW, Washington DC 20460), 2-6. A broad overview of the subject covering greenhouse gas concentrations, the impacts on global climate, regional and temporal climate changes.

"Climate Change and Marine Fisheries," R.C. Francis (Fisheries Res. Inst., WH-10, Univ. Washington, Seattle WA 98195), 7-9. To understand the complex linkages involved, work in the following areas should be undertaken immediately: prediction of oceanographic effects of climate change; the structure and function of the marine food chain; important social aspects of marine fisheries.

"Anticipated Effects of Climate Change on Freshwater Fishes and Their Habitat," H.A. Regier (Inst. Environ. Studies, Univ. Toronto, Toronto, Ont. M5S 1A1, Can.), J.D. Meisner, 10-15. Sketches an iterative assessment process that uses water temperature, water quantity and water quality variables to link the atmosphere to fishery resources, and incorporates information at different scales (organism, species, population). Illustrates the process with recent work done on the water temperature linkage. A Wild Salmonid Watch could provide a framework for monitoring climate change and its effects on salmonids on a hemispheric scale.

"Anticipated Effects of Climate Change on Estuarine and Coastal Fisheries," V.S. Kennedy (Horn Point Labs., Univ. Maryland, Cambridge MD 21613), 16-25. Estuarine and coastal systems could experience poleward retreat of cold-tolerant species and range expansion of warm-tolerant species. Some fisheries and aquaculture enterprises and communities would benefit, others would suffer, with economic and population dislocation probably inevitable in many parts of the world.

"Potential Effects of Global Warming on Native Fishes of the Southern Great Plains and Southwest," W.J. Matthews (Biol. Sta., Univ. Oklahoma, Kingston OK 73439), E.G. Zimmerman, 26-32. Fish in streams in this area may be particularly vulnerable to extirpation or extinction due to global warming, because some streams are sufficiently warm to be near the lethal thermal limits for the fish and because the fish cannot migrate northward should warming occur. Evidence suggests there is little likelihood of behavioral or genetic adjustments.

"Global Climate Change: Policy Implications for Fisheries," H. Gucinski (c/o ERL, US EPA, 200 SW 35th St., Corvallis OR 97333), R.T. Lackey, B.C. Spence, 33-38. Examines implications by considering changes extrapolated to regional scales and selecting a few detailed case studies to illustrate important points. Action requires establishing priorities for information needs, determining appropriate temporal and spatial scales for modeling effects, and accounting for interactive changes in physical and biological cycles. A policy response can be derived when these results are integrated with social needs and human population constraints.

"Does History Have a Future? Forecasting Climate Change Effects on Fisheries by Analogy," M.H. Glantz (ESIG, NCAR, POB 3000, Boulder CO 80307), 39-44. Examines two events: the collapse of the Peruvian anchoveta fishery (early 1970s) and the Anglo-Icelandic Cod Wars (1951-1977), for their implications on how well society might be able to cope with the effects on fisheries resources of possible regional climate changes that might be associated with global warming.

Item #d91mar11

Trans. Amer. Fisheries Soc., 119(2), Mar. 1990. Contains the proceedings of the Symposium on Effects of Climate Change on Fish (Sept. 14-15, 1988, Toronto, Ont., Can.), consisting of 17 technical articles relating to such topics as air temperature and water supply, thermal structure of lakes, dissolved oxygen contents of lakes, and potential effects on various fish species and their food sources or predators. The introductory article by the convenors of the conference (H.A. Regier, J.J. Magnuson, C.C. Coutant) states that researchers, educators, entrepreneurs and managers should take the issue of climate change seriously now. The following article on policy is also part of the issue.

"Implications of Climate Change for Fisheries Management Policy," M.C. Healey (Westwater Res. Ctr., Univ. British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. V6T 1W5, Can.), 366-373. The typical, incremental, remedial policy adjustment of governments and agencies is unsuited to some of the changes in fisheries resource dynamics that might result from climatic change. An emphasis on mitigation of the effects of change is also unlikely to be unsuccessful because it focuses on the status quo and ignores opportunities that may be inherent in the changes taking place. Bolder policies involving adaptation to new climatic conditions and experimental probing of system behavior are more likely to be successful.