Chapter 3 Global Warming, Aquaculture, and Commercial Fisheries

Abstract

World aquaculture production is accelerating at a rate that is faster than any other food production system on the planet. For some species such as salmon, the production of farmed fish now exceeds historic catches. At the same time, the planet’s climate has warmed to temperatures higher than observed in the last thousand years. Most climate scientists agree that the warming trend will continue. There is now certainty that climate can have major impacts on the abundance trends of commercial fishes. This means that climate change will alter the nature of commercial fishing and probably introduce more instability into the annual supply of marine fish. However, a changing climate may benefit aquaculture if the expected increases in agriculture production from global warming can be combined with research to use plant protein in all aqua-feeds. When an expanded aquaculture industry increases the production of seafood, it should allow management agencies to be more precautionary and reduce exploitation rates on wild stocks. The net effect of an expanded aquaculture industry, a warming climate, an increasing human population and more precautionary fishing practices should improve the state of wild stocks