A new study predicts a sharp decline in global fish populations, including Atlantic Canadian species, by the end of the century if runaway greenhouse gas emissions continue.
The 108-page report released last week by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) predicts that with an average temperature increase of between 3 and 4 degrees Celsius, fish biomass would decline by more than 30 percent by 2100 in 48 countries.
In contrast, a low-carbon scenario – or warming of 1.5 to 2°C – predicts a loss of fish of less than 10% worldwide.
Andrea Bryndum-Buchholz, a marine ecologist at Memorial University in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, contributed to the study. She says Canadian fisheries are vulnerable as water temperatures rise in the northwest Atlantic.
The study shows that three-quarters of the East Coast’s marine protected areas – areas that ensure the long-term conservation of marine species – are located in climate change hotspots, where waters are expected to warm at higher rates.
Areas of Atlantic Canada where warming and biomass declines are expected include the Scotian Shelf, which follows the southern coast of Nova Scotia, and the Laurentian Channel, which runs between Cape Breton Island and Newfoundland.
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