Co-tRiP · Dolphinfish living in a warming ocean: How global climate change is reshaping the distribution, physiology and behaviour of marine migratory species and their associated fisheries.

Dolphinfish living in a warming ocean: How global climate change is reshaping the distribution, physiology and behaviour of marine migratory species and their associated fisheries.

Fish and seafood from small-scale fisheries play a key role in global food security. In consequence, long-term management plans will need to consider the future impacts of climate change on living aquatic resources and the human communities that depend on them. The geographical boundaries and productivity centroids of individual fisheries are changing in response to ocean warming. These changes can lead to economic disruption if a fish population becomes less or more productive or moves out of traditional fishing grounds. Dolphinfish support a commercial, artisanal and recreational fishery worldwide. The species is known to respond strongly to climate change through changes in spawning grounds, larval growth, etc. Co-tRiP addressed the ecological and socio-economic consequences of climate change on this species in the NW Mediterranean. The specific objectives of Co-tRiP included: 1) To estimate the effect of environmental variability on the extent and location of spawning grounds, spawning phenology, and growth of dolphinfish recruits; 2) To address how these effects and long-term environmental trends can be used to project the impacts of climate change; and 3) To assess how projected changes could affect artisanal fisheries in terms of phenology and production and anticipate industry/market adjustment. Co-tRiP found for the dolphinfish in the NW Mediterranean that: 1) its predicted spawning habitat shows a remarkable expansion from the 1990s to the last; 2) its maximum expansion range was reached in the 2000s; 3) its reproductive period has been extended, bringing forward the onset of reproduction and delaying its end; 4) between 20 and 60 more days in the year may now be suitable for its reproduction compared to the 1980s and; 5) its temperature-mediated larval development and growth is also predicted to have accelerated. Overall, climate change could be signifying an increased recruitment rate for dolphinfish. Although fishery catches may affect the size of populations, making them more sensitive to other stressors such as climate change, and reduce their reproductive potential, small-scale fisheries targeting dolphinfish in the NW Mediterranean are reasonably well managed through strict control of the number of boats, allowed exclusion by date and self-imposed quota limits agreed by fishermen to control prices. Trends in environmental conditions are expected to continue throughout the 21st century, and the cultural, social and economic conditions surrounding fisheries are expected to evolve towards even greater sustainability. FAO declared the species a priority species in 2019, and a management plan for the whole Mediterranean stock is being fostered and funded. If this were to happen, we could speak of a winning species in the face of climate change adversities.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union