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More Positive Impacts of El Niņo
Exotic Fishes Found far North
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.
Less Storms
Another significant benefit of El Niņo is that the Atlantic coast hurricane season was
suppressed this year
Hurricanes had been held in check during the El Niņo that lasted from 1990 to 1995. Then
last year, devastating hurricanes hammered parts of the Caribbean and the Atlantic coast.
With El Niņo's return, life is calm along the North Carolina coast.
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