Arctic FMP approved

Via the NMFS Alaska Regional Office:

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke today approved a plan to prohibit the expansion of commercial fishing in federal Arctic waters until researchers gather sufficient information on fish and the Arctic marine environment to prevent adverse impacts of commercial harvesting activity on the ecosystem.

"As Arctic sea ice recedes due to climate change, there is increasing interest in commercial fishing in Arctic waters," said Locke. "We are in a position to plan for sustainable fishing that does not damage the overall health of this fragile ecosystem. This plan takes a precautionary approach to any development of commercial fishing in an area where there has been none in the past."

The Arctic Fishery Management Plan, approved today, will be implemented through regulations to be published in the Federal Register. Fisheries managers have identified Arctic cod, saffron cod, and snow crab as likely initial target species for commercial fishing in the region.

The plan governs any future commercial fishing for finfish and shellfish in federal waters, except Pacific salmon and Pacific halibut, which are managed under other authorities. It does not affect fisheries for salmon, whitefish and shellfish in Alaskan waters near the Arctic shore. The fishery management plan also does not affect subsistence fishing or hunting in the Arctic.

Under the plan, in any new Arctic fisheries that may be approved in the future:

* fishermen will be required to keep records that will help determine catch, production, effort, price, and other information necessary for conservation and management
* fishermen may be required to carry certified fisheries observers on board in order to verify catch quantity and composition, track at-sea discards, and collect biological information on marine resources

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council and NOAA’s Fisheries Service will establish prescribed procedures before authorizing a future fishery, and will monitor and adjust the plan periodically. These adjustments might include annual total allowable catch levels and in-season adjustments through gear modifications, closures, fishing area restrictions, and quota restrictions.

In 2006, the council began considering options for fishery management in the Arctic. The council talked extensively with communities on Alaska's North Slope and other stakeholders to consider management options. The council voted to prohibit commercial fisheries until researchers gather sufficient information on fish and the Arctic marine environment.

NOAA understands and predicts changes in the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and conserves and manages our coastal and marine resources. Visit www.noaa.gov. To learn more about NOAA Fisheries in Alaska, visit alaskafisheries.noaa.gov or: www.afsc.noaa.gov.

On the Web: Arctic Fishery Management Plan: http://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/sustainablefisheries/arctic/

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O3 depletion reduces ocean C uptake

Via ScienceDaily.com:

Ozone Depletion Reduces Ocean Carbon Uptake

New research published in GRL finds that

.... ozone depletion, combined with increased atmospheric greenhouse gas concentration, drives stronger winds above the Southern Ocean. These stronger winds bring more carbon-rich deep water to the surface, which reduces the ocean's ability to absorb more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Read the entire story at Science Daily

Read the paper at GRL: Stratospheric ozone depletion reduces ocean carbon uptake and enhances ocean acidification [Subscription Required]

Observational and atmospheric inversion studies find that the strength of the Southern Ocean carbon dioxide (CO2) sink is not increasing, despite rising atmospheric CO2. However, this is yet to be captured by contemporary coupled-climate-carbon-models used to predict future climate. We show that by accounting for stratospheric ozone depletion in a coupled-climate-carbon-model, the ventilation of carbon rich deep water is enhanced through stronger winds, increasing surface water CO2 at a rate in good agreement with observed trends.

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Modulation of Ocean Acidification

Via PNAS:
Reasearch suggests that acidification rate of the oceans is modulated by physical and biogeochemical processes which must be considered "when designing and interpreting ocean pH monitoring efforts and predictive models."

Physical and biogeochemical modulation of ocean acidification in the central North Pacific

Here we report the results of nearly 20 years of time-series measurements of seawater pH and associated parameters at Station ALOHA in the central North Pacific Ocean near Hawaii. We document a significant long-term decreasing trend of −0.0019 ± 0.0002 y−1 in surface pH, which is indistinguishable from the rate of acidification expected from equilibration with the atmosphere. Superimposed upon this trend is a strong seasonal pH cycle driven by temperature, mixing, and net photosynthetic CO2 assimilation.

Read the Open Access article at PNAS.


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Big Advantage for the Small

New research out of IFM-GEOMAR makes the case that:

... reduced body size is the third universal ecological response to global warming in aquatic systems besides the shift of species ranges toward higher altitudes and latitudes and the seasonal shifts in life cycle events.

Read the article at PNAS:
Global warming benefits the small in aquatic ecosystems.[Subscription Required]

Read the press release at IFM-GEOMAR

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New Study: AMOC Shutdown May Be Gradual

New GCM reasearch out of Oregon State University finds that a climate-change-induced shutdown of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) may occur more gradually than previously predicted.

Research indicates ocean current shutdown may be gradual

CORVALLIS, Ore. – The findings of a major new study are consistent with gradual changes of current systems in the North Atlantic Ocean, rather than a more sudden shutdown that could lead to rapid climate changes in Europe and elsewhere.

The research, based on the longest experiment of its type ever run on a "general circulation model" that simulated the Earth's climate for 21,000 years back to the height of the last Ice Age, shows that major changes in these important ocean current systems can occur, but they may take place more slowly and gradually than had been suggested.

Read the entire press release at the OSU College of Science.


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Humboldt squid on the West Coast

Humboldt squid (Dosidicus gigas) have been showing up as far north as Seattle.

• Giant squid caught in West Seattle
  

• Jumbo Squid Spook California Divers

• Jumbo squid invade San Diego shores, spook scuba divers

Historically the appearance of Humboldt this far north has coincided with El Niño conditions in the eastern Pacific. The NCEP Climate Prediction Center issued an advisory on July 9 for El Niño conditions that have been observed and are expected to continue through the Northern Hemisphere Winter 2009-2010.

See: "Invasive range expansion by the Humboldt squid, Dosidicus gigas, in the eastern North Pacific"

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NOAA: Record Global SST for June

NOAA: Global Ocean Surface Temperature Warmest on Record for June

The world’s ocean surface temperature was the warmest on record for June, breaking the previous high mark set in 2005, according to a preliminary analysis by NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. Additionally, the combined average global land and ocean surface temperature for June was second-warmest on record. The global records began in 1880

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Read the entire press release at NOAA News.
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Rates of sea-level change over the past century

Geophysical Research Letters (GRL) presents the results of a new GPS-based study of seal level rise:

The results from a carefully implemented GPS analysis, using a strategy adapted to determine accurate vertical station velocities, are presented. The stochastic properties of our globally distributed GPS position time series were inferred, allowing the computation of reliable velocity uncertainties. Most uncertainties were several times smaller than the 1–3 mm/yr global sea level change, and hence the vertical velocities could be applied to correct the long tide gauge records for land motion. The sea level trends obtained in the ITRF2005 reference frame are more consistent than in the ITRF2000 or corrected for Glacial-Isostatic Adjustment (GIA) model predictions, both on the global and the regional scale, leading to a reconciled global rate of geocentric sea level rise of 1.61 ± 0.19mm/yr over the past century in good agreement with the most recent estimates.

Wöppelmann, G., C. Letetrel, A. Santamaria, M.-N. Bouin, X. Collilieux, Z. Altamimi, S. D. P. Williams, and B. M. Miguez (2009), Rates of sea-level change over the past century in a geocentric reference frame, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L12607, doi:10.1029/2009GL038720

Read the full article here.[Subscription Required]
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Caribbean reefs 'flattened' in just 40 years

Caribbean reefs 'flattened' in just 40 years - environment - 10 June 2009 - New Scientist Read more!