August 26, 2021 — In 2020, a Cape Cod Canal fisherman wrote a letter about the need for federal laws to address shifting fish stocks and maintain sustainable levels amid climate change.
In 2019, a researcher concluded that climate variation and warming waters in the Gulf of Maine contributed to a decline in New England fishing jobs from 1996 to 2017.
In 2021, a Massachusetts fisheries analyst and consultant said researchers are seeing changes they haven’t seen before and are trying to determine the exact causation as it relates to climate change. Over the years, the analyst said they have seen a change in the distribution, productivity, spawning and mortality of fish species.
Such concerns are about to be closely considered under a new federal initiative that will draw representatives of every coastal state from Maine to Florida to strategically plan for future fisheries management amid climate change. The East Coast Climate Change Scenario Planning Initiative is a multiyear effort that will culminate in the creation of a few likely scenarios that will inform future decision-making by regional fishery councils.