Media report on study that finds warming ocean factor in cod decline
Several news organizations including the Associated Press, Science Magazine, Discovery News, NPR, Yahoo News, Portland Press Herald and Climate Central reported on a new study that found rapid warming of waters off New England is a key factor in the collapse of the region’s cod fishery. The study, published in Science, determined changes to the species’ management are needed to save one of America’s oldest industries, according to reports. Andrew Thomas, an oceanography professor at the University of Maine, was a co-author of the study that was led by the Gulf of Maine Research Institute and included researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other institutions. Strict quotas placed on New England’s cod fishery in 2010 were implemented to increase their numbers, but the limits failed to take into account rising water temperatures, according to an InsideClimate News article on the study. “Our management forecasts were failing because we were not accounting for this very rapid change in temperature,” Thomas said in the article. Robert Steneck, a marine scientist at UMaine’s Darling Marine Center, was quoted in a New York Times article on the findings. Steneck said a heat wave in 2012 brought an explosion of invasive green crabs that “caused almost a complete collapse of edible mussels and a decline in soft-shell clams.” However, the warming trend has been beneficial for lobsters, he said, creating a “sweet spot” that provides perfect conditions for larvae to make their way to the seabed, according to the article. ABC News and The Sacramento Bee carried the AP report.