In a recent study conducted by marine scientists from the University of British Columbia, Canada, researchers find climate change could cause fish to migrate from the equatorial regions to the Arctic by 2050.
It is estimated that most commercial and edible fish could migrate from the tropics to cooler regions because of a definite change in water temperature, and this could have devastating effects on both people and the environment.
According to the worst scenario fish would migrate in 2100 from their present habitats at a rate of 16 miles per decade if tropical waters get warmer by 3 degrees. But in comparison, fish would migrate at a rate of 10 miles per decade if only 1 degree of water warming occurs. An associate professor at the UBE Fisheries Centre, William Cheun states that “the tropics will be the overall losers. This area has a high dependence on fish for food, diet, and nutrition. We’ll see a loss of fish populations that are important to the fisheries and communities in these regions.”
Miranda Jones, another UBE researcher says “as fish move to cooler waters, this generates new opportunities for fisheries in the Arctic.”
