The grand challenge of ocean acidification and fisheries

Kevin Zelnio - 

Anthropogenic climate change has been hypothesized for centuries (discussed in Le Treut 2007) before the careful measurements of scientists in the mid-20th century.

From 1833 to 1997, Stanhill (2001) calculated that the climate change science doubled every 11 years. The impact of carbon dioxide concentrations in the ocean was recognized early on with measurements and analyses taken by Revelle and Suess (1957).

While research on ocean acidification has made great strides in the last two decades (reviewed in Doney et al. 2009), the surface has barely been scratched with understanding how lower pH affects the already downtrodden commercial fisheries that serve as the foundation of many livelihoods and economies.

Commercial fisheries have worn the brunt of excess and experiments in regulations for several decades. Many fishing quotas are set using recent historical catch data and based on a maximum sustainable yield.

The commercial fishing industry has much to be concerned about. Reduced yields will devastate livelihoods and jobs in areas where fishing is the only, or by far the largest, industry. Subsidence fishing, typical in impoverished areas, will be threatened and inhabitants will need to procure new sources of protein.

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