First Victim of Climate Change?

The Alaska Cod Fishery, which is a federal operation, announced in December it was closing for the 2020 season. Devastating small fishing companies and fisherman, the closure marks the severity of the global climate change problem. The ripple effect will be felt worldwide and sadly this is only the beginning.

Prior to the major warm-up of 2014, the Alaskan cod fish numbers were healthy. The warm water mass, known as “the blob” circulated through the Alaskan waters from late 2013 through 2017, reducing the number of cod available for fishing was over 80%. This steady decline not only impacts fisherman, but Stellar sea lions also who rely on the fish for prey.

For over a millennia, Alaska has relied on fish as a critical food source, essential to their economy and culture. The plentiful bounty of the Alaskan waters (as well as the Aleutian Islands and Bering Strait) has supported some of the largest commercial fisheries in the world. With the decreasing number of fish available, the dramatic changes to the ecosystem that are being witnessed will become the new norm.

Scientists are researching if the cod numbers can rally back in time, but many feel the decline was too drastic and another fish will replace it in the ecosystem. The temperature doesn’t need to rise much to have a massive impact. The cod eggs’ survival rate drops significantly when the water temp rises over 44 degrees.

The 2014 blob is described as a “dress rehearsal” for what is to come for our future. Climate change is very real and if we as citizens of the world do nothing, we will suffer just as the Alaskan cod has.