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Climate Change Likely to Reshape West Coast Fisheries by Sending Fish Farther Offshore

August 18, 2023
Researchers studied four species of West Coast groundfish commonly harvested together, including sablefish, Dover sole, and thornyhead (pictured here).
Researchers studied four species of West Coast groundfish commonly harvested together, including sablefish, Dover sole, and thornyhead (pictured here). This image was captured from an AUV hovering above the sea floor off the West Coast.

Several of our California Current IEA scientists recently published an article that provides insight into the future of West Coast groundfish fisheries as a response to climate change in the journal Science Advances. The locations of many valuable species, like sablefish, will change as a result of warming water temperatures and decreasing oxygen levels. 

“Climate change will alter where species can be caught efficiently, in ways that may challenge fishing communities that have grown accustomed to using particular fishing grounds,” said Jameal Samhouri, a research scientist at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center and coauthor of the research. “This is a look at how that might play out.”

Read a full summary of the research here.

Read the article in Science Advances here.