With hotter temperatures the fish abundance will increase, however fewer fishing journeys – what is the level?
Global warming is predicted to reduce fish abundance. When scientists examined fish versus temperature, they found that there were more fish and larger catches in warm weather, but the frequency of fishing trips decreased.
Human behavior must be included in the analysis of climate change
MAY 1, 2021 04:04 AEST
A new study led by Cornell examines how temperature affects fishing behavior and catches of inland fishing households in Cambodia, with important implications for understanding climate change.
The study, using household surveys, temperature data and statistical models, found that people fish less often as temperatures rise. At the same time, the authors of the study indirectly found that stocks of fish and other aquatic foods also rise with temperatures, which leads to slightly larger catches with each fish catch. Without careful analysis, it would appear that total fish catches appear unchanged every year, although more differentiated dynamics are actually at play.
The study reveals why when studying changing environmental conditions it is necessary to consider human behavior along with the responses of the ecosystem. Both are key variables when considering how climate change affects rural livelihoods, food production and access to food.
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The researchers found that the time spent fishing per excursion and gear selection was not affected by temperature, but fewer people fished as temperatures rose.
They also analyzed fishing. It turns out that with constant exertion, The amount of fish caught per trip increased as temperatures rose, which meant the ecosystem became a little more productive when warmer. The same pattern applied to other aquatic animals such as frogs or snakes and aquatic plants. However, without considering the effects of temperature on human behavior, it would have looked like temperature had no effect.
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Read more: https://www.miragenews.com/human-behavior-must-be-factored-into-climate-552710/
The abstract of the study;
The response of fishermen to temperature changes shows the importance of including human behavior in the analysis of climate change
Kathryn J. Fiorella1, *, Elizabeth R. Bageant2, Naomi B. Schwartz3, Shakuntala H. Thilsted4 and Christopher B. Barrett2
Advances in Science April 30, 2021:
Vol. 7, no. 18, eabc7425
DOI: 10.1126 / sciadv.abc7425
Climate change will change the ecological dynamics. How temperature increases change the behavior and resource consumption of people who depend on natural resources remains unexplored. Consistent changes in behavior can weaken or accelerate the effects of the climate on livelihoods and food security. In small inland fisheries in particular, which are home to around 10% of the world’s population, changes in temperature are likely to affect both fish and fishermen. To analyze how changing temperatures change the fishing behavior of households, we examined the fishing effort and fishing in a large inland fishery. We used longitudinal observation data from households in Cambodia with the highest per capita consumption of inland fish in the world. Higher temperatures reduced households to fishing but had limited net effects on fishing. Including human behavioral responses to changing environmental conditions will be fundamental to determining how climate change affects rural livelihoods, food production and access to food.
Read more: https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/7/18/eabc7425
We thank the scientists for showing the graphic on the right (see top of the page).
These days, there seems to be a lot of pressure on scientists to report results that match the prejudice of science that warm temperatures are bad news. It would therefore have been easy to report that the fishery has declined, a legitimate if incomplete result, and to go so far.
It’s pretty brave for the day to go deeper and report that fish abundance and ecosystem productivity actually increase with temperature, but the total catch decreases because people spend more time doing other things.
Warmth is abundance. The speed at which plants grow in a warm climate has to be seen to be believed – my mower gets a good workout when the rain hits my lawn in the summer rainy season. If the world ever warms up, as alarmists keep promising, much of our planet will look like the Garden of Eden.
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