According to a study published on Wednesday, if Mexican fisheries do not adapt to climate change , the number of fish caught is set to tumble, with catch numbers for Pacific abalone, jumbo squid and mahi-mahi possibly plunging more than 30% over the next 30 years in Mexico .
Co-authored by the New York-based Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) , the study found that 84% of 25 species analyzed will suffer as ocean waters grow warmer , hurting an industry that supports some 240,000 people and their families in a country that ranks no. 16 among the world’s seafood producers .
“Any way you look at it, our oceans are changing,” said Laura Rodríguez , an EDF associate vice president who co-authored the peer-reviewed report published in the science journal PLOS ONE . “The single most important thing you can do is to implement sustainable fisheries management starting now.”
Left to their own devices, some species will migrate to escape hotter temperatures , while fish unable to do so are likely to die, Rodríguez said.
Without sustainable management , Mexican fishers three decades from now would see their maximum potential catch drop as much as 44%, as in the case of pacific abalone . Pacific sardine , pelagic red crab , jumbo squid , and mahi-mahi would all see their maximum catch decrease by more than 30%, the study found.
Rodríguez said a fourth of Mexico’s fisheries were certified sustainable , but others lacked the protocols to handle changing conditions.
Mexico
’s government has not effectively implemented sustainable fishing practices , the report said, and laws in top fishing states of Baja California, Sinaloa, Sonora, and Veracruz do not mandate adaptation strategies.
Still, proper management, such as cutting back on fishing a depleted stock , would lead to “better economic and conservation outcomes,” it said.
Researchers
from th e University of California , Santa Barbara, and Mexico’s National Institute for Fisheries and Aquaculture co-wrote the report along with the EDF .
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