BIODIVERSITY will be the key to keeping global fisheries going as sea temperatures rise, the prestigious Smithsonian Institution has found in a study backed by Tasmanian-driven citizen science, writes The Mercury.
Research shows between 1984 and 2003 the growth of two types of marine fish and a coral slowed during El Niño years when waters were cooler, whereas in La Niña years, with warmer sea temperatures and generally more rainfall, growth rates increased. This would seem to spell good news as oceans are predicted to continue warming. Read more about this UWA Oceans Institute study.
Next time you need an excuse to go fishing again, feel free to the Redmap excuse: "It's not fishing, it's research!"
Felt a little hot under the collar this summer? Analysis of water temperatures around Tasmania show that seas off the east coast were a whopping 4.4 degrees Celsius above average, partly due to the warm East Australian Current extending southwards. Read more in The Conversation.
Tasmanian water temperatures are beginning to fall after a hot summer, signalling some relief on the way for local salmon growers. Salmon farmer Tassal has blamed warm waters for its withdrawal from two tenders for supply contracts with Coles because the temperatures were impacting on the growth rates for its farmed fish. Read the full story at ABC News.
Hugh Richardson is an avid diver, travelling up and down the coast in search of WA's best dive spots. He's also a Redmap member and has logged some unusual sightings online.
There was a summer spike in strange marine sightings in the South West/Capes region [of WA], as fish typically found in the State’s north made their way down via the warming Leeuwin Current. Spanish mackerel, marlin and redthroat emporer were just a handful of fish species recently spotted along the South West coast, all of which generally favour the warmer northern waters, writes the Busselton Dunsborough Times.
The summer of 2015-2016 was one of the hottest on record in Australia. But it has also been hot in the waters surrounding the nation: the hottest summer on record, in fact. Read the full article in the Conversation AU.
ARE melting polar ice sheets as stable as we think or have we missed something? Could we face rapid sea-level rise in a few decades? Scientific debate about this has picked up in the wake of the March publication of two major research papers by scientists from the US, France, Germany and China. Read the full story by Peter Boyer in The Mercury.
Redmap and the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) will be chatting to fishers, boaters and the community at Seafest this Saturday, 2 April. Come along to the marine festival in Triabunna for your chance to win an aquarium full of lolly snakes or a marine book - and chat to the Redmap and IMAS staff about fishing and any weird and wonderful fish you've caught lately.