February 12, 2015 — Water that is not too hot, not too cold, but just right. Like every other living organism, fish just want to be comfortable.
That's why, in the face of warming ocean water, they may be on the move. Dr. Malin Pinsky of Rutgers University, who studies the effects of climate change in fisheries, said many species are shifting to the north at a time when the climate has been warming.
"We're seeing a climate fingerprint in many of these shifts in species distribution," Dr. Pinsky said.
There's been unprecedented warming in the northeast, he added, with 2012 being the warmest year on record for ocean water in the region. "It was a real heat wave," he said.
Dr. Pinsky and Rutgers have just begun a joint research project with Stony Brook University, George Mason University and the University of North Carolina to understand whether a changing climate played a role in the shift and what the economic and regulatory impacts will be.
Sea Grant is funding the study and the Save the Summer Flounder Fishery Fund is part of the advisory board.
Read the full story from the Asbury Park Press