May 28, 2021 — Climate change in the ocean has made a splash with people who want to protect marine animals, like fishes, from warming oceans. But the problem goes beyond endangered species and threatened ecosystems. It also affects people who rely on fish not only for food but also for income.
To learn more about these impacts, scientists at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian Marine Station are collecting data on where fish live today and how those environments are changing. Gathering and analyzing this information is the most accurate way to protect the fish and the fishing communities.
“Understanding how fish respond to climate change is important but not the only factor,” said Steven Canty, a marine biologist and the program coordinator of the Marine Conservation Program at the Smithsonian Marine Station. “We can’t only be thinking about the fish when so many people rely on them for food security and their livelihoods.”