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Fish threatened by climate change WWF news release November 18, 2005 Geneva, Switzerland Fish are increasingly threatened by the effects of climate change as temperatures rise in rivers, lakes and oceans, says a new WWF report. It says that hotter water means less food, less offspring and even less oxygen for marine and freshwater fish populations. "The balance is set to tip, as climate change continues the pressure on fish populations already strained by overfishing, pollution and habitat loss," said Katherine Short, a fisheries officer with WWF's Global Marine Programme. "We must act to protect fish, both marine and freshwater, they are one of our most valuable biological, nutritional, and economic assets." The report shows that hotter temperatures are expected to stunt the growth of some fish, resulting in fewer offspring. Normally fish metabolisms speed up as temperatures rise, but insufficient food supplies could slow their growth and reproduction rates. Some temperate fish like salmon, catfish and sturgeon cannot spawn at all if winter temperatures do not drop below a certain level. To make matters worse, the WWF report shows that freshwater fish particularly may not have enough oxygen to breathe as waters grow warmer. Fish filter oxygen from water, but the amount of oxygen dissolved in water decreases as temperatures rise. Meanwhile, hotter temperatures mean that fish populations could move to cooler waters in an effort to maintain the temperature normal for their habitat. However, this can leave other species in dire straits that are dependent on these fish as a food source. In the Gulf of Alaska in 1993, as fish moved into cooler waters around 120,000 sea birds starved to death as they were unable to dive deep enough to reach their relocated prey.
WWF wants governments meeting in Montreal to commit to starting negotiations for deeper cuts in CO2 emissions once the current commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol runs out in 2012. "If we fail to secure deeper reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, we will increase the pressures on fish and billions of people that depend on them as an important source of protein," said Stephan Singer, Head of WWF's European Climate and Energy Policy Unit. "Unless governments slow the rate and extent of climate change we're all going to feel like fish out of water." END NOTE: The European Union, other governments and many civil society groups have committed themselves to keeping the rise of global average temperature below 2°C above pre-industrial levels. This is a modified news release from WWF. The original version appears at Hot, hungry and gasping for air climate change puts fish at risk, warns WWF.
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