Steep decline in Atlantic Canada fish possible from GHG emissions: Researchers

HALIFAX — A new study is predicting a steep decline in global fish populations — including species in Atlantic Canada — by the end of the century, if unchecked greenhouse gas emissions continue.

The 108-page report published last week by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations projects that with an average temperature increase of between 3 and 4 C, fish biomass would decline by more than 30 per cent by 2100 in 48 countries.

A low carbon emissions scenario — or 1.5 to 2 C warming — by contrast, projects less than a 10 per cent loss of fish worldwide.

Andrea Bryndum-Buchholz, a marine ecologist at Memorial University who contributed to the study, says Canadian fisheries are vulnerable as water temperatures rise in the northwest Atlantic.

The study shows three quarters of the east coast’s protected marine areas — regions that maintain the long-term conservation of marine species —fall within climate change hotspots, where waters are expected to warm at higher rates.

Areas in Atlantic Canada where there is expected warming and biomass declines include the Scotian Shelf, which follows the south shore of Nova Scotia, and the Laurentian Channel, which is between Cape Breton Island and Newfoundland.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 17, 2024.