The study, which covers March to June, also examined data on fish landings and found that the catch for some species, such as squid and scallops, decreased compared with previous years. But the catch for other species, such as black sea bass and haddock, was on par with or higher than previous years, suggesting that many fishermen fished as much as they had been before the pandemic, while earning less income. They may have kept fishing to pay their bills or crew, or to maintain their livelihoods or their quotas until markets rebound, said main author Sarah Lindley Smith, a post-doctoral associate in the Department of Human Ecology in the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. Most of the fishermen who stopped fishing during the early months of the pandemic planned to resume fishing instead of leaving the industry.
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IMAGE: Construction of the Block Island Wind Farm off Rhode Island, the first offshore wind farm in the United States. It began commercial operations in December 2016. view more
Credit: NOAA Fisheries
Conservation of fish and other marine life migrating from warming ocean waters will be more effective and also protect commercial fisheries if plans are made now to cope with climate change, according to a Rutgers-led study in the journal Sticking our heads in the sand doesn t work, said lead author Malin Pinsky, an associate professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources in the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. Effective ocean planning that accounts for climate change will lead to better safeguards for marine fish and commercial fisheries with few tradeoffs.
Effective planning ahead protects fish and fisheries phys.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from phys.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.