People have been catching exotic saltwater fish in Fort Bragg,
California. To even catch a tuna fish this often is considered rare in this part of
the USA. In order to catch these fishes, people living here have to go much more
inwards towards the ocean and further south. However, the warm water in the Pacific
Ocean off the southern coast of California has caused the fishes to swim northwards in
search of colder water where they have made the fishers in Fort Bragg, 180 miles north of
San Francisco, and other places extremely happy.
Fishermen and aquaculturists could also benefit from
better forecasts. In fact, fish farmers in coastal Peru
and Ecuador anticipated this year's
arrival of El Niņo by raising warm-water species, like shrimp, in their holding pens
instead of fish that prefer cooler waters.
With warning, Trenberth says, commercial fishermen might make
adjustments necessary to pursue species that are more abundant during an El Niņo event.
As El Niņo raises the temperature of the Pacific Ocean, other
changes occur. The Arctic current that brings cold water to the California coast is not as
strong in an El Niņo year so there's not as much upwelling of nutrient-rich waters.
"The whole food web is affected. Phytoplankton growth is
affected, so there's not as much food for fish. Further up the food chain, there's a
decline in a number of species off the coast. It affects birds, and fur seals don't fatten
up as well, so there's a higher mortality level," Trenberth says. |
