Climate Change Threatens Australian Fishing and Aquaculture Industry
Climate change threatens Australia’s A$2.1 billion (US$1.6 billion) commercial fishing and aquaculture industry, but may create new wild fisheries as tropical marine species move south as sea temperatures rise.Changes in sea temperatures, currents, winds, rainfall, sea levels and extreme weather events threaten to adversely affect fish and shellfish numbers, said a report by the Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO).
“It is apparent that climate change will impact the biological, economic and social aspects of many fisheries,” said the CSIRO report released.
“South-east fisheries are most likely to be affected by changes in water temperature, northern fisheries by changes in precipitation, and western fisheries by changes in the Leeuwin Current (a warm southerly current), said the report.
It said many marine species “may be lost as the climate continues to warm” and alters the island nation’s two main ocean currents, the East Australian Current and the Leeuwin Current, which support several commercially important species like rock lobsters, scallops, sardines, whitebait and tropical tuna.
Australia’s A$220 million salmon industry off the southern island state of Tasmania could be the hardest hit as salmon are already cultivated close to their upper thermal limit.
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