Climate change is not an abstract construct, it has already arrived doorstep and is affecting fish stocks in the North and Baltic Seas. That is the starting point for discussions to be had at fish international at MESSE BREMEN (September 4 to 6), according to a statement from the organizers. But this is not the only reason why climate protection is the order of the day and an important topic for the fishing industry: Anyone who invests in climate protection in their own company can possibly reduce their operating costs – and also send important signals to their customers.
The North Sea and Baltic Sea are becoming warmer and warmer. Since the 1980s, the average annual temperature of the water off the German coasts has increased by up to 2.0°C. The effects are already being clearly felt. “For example, cod in the North Sea, which are accustomed to colder water, are migrating north; species that tend to prefer warmer waters, such as squid, sardines and anchovies, or mullet, are moving in from the south,” says marine biologist and head of the Thünen Institute of Sea Fisheries in Bremerhaven, Dr. Gerd Kraus. The consequences in the Baltic Sea, which is largely enclosed by land, are even more serious: “Fish such as cod cannot move further north there, productivity decreases and stocks decline.”
As a consequence, climate change naturally also affects fisheries. North Sea fishermen may still be lucky because they will find new species of commercial fish to replace those that are increasingly migrating. Simply following the old species may not be possible: they are also moving into the waters of other fishing nations such as Norway and Iceland, which – as was once the case with redfish – are insisting on their fishing rights in the 200-nautical-mile zones. “The tried and tested European system of relative stability of fishing quotas may thus be undermined,” warns Dr. Kraus. In the Baltic Sea, the development is even more dramatic: “There, there are currently such drastic cuts in the herring stock in the western Baltic that many businesses are being deprived of their economic basis.”