North Atlantic Oscillation and fisheries management during global climate change

Abstract

The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is the most important large-scale climatic oscillation affecting the North Atlantic region. The variability introduced by the NAO affects many meteorological parameters, including wind speed and direction, and differences in air temperature and rainfall, particularly during the boreal winter. The NAO is also known to affect the ocean by changing heat content, sea surface temperature, gyre circulation, mixed layer depth, salinity, high-latitude deep water formation, and sea ice cover. Consequently, the NAO has been widely used to analyze the variability of marine ecosystems. Several researchers found that fishery resources were teleconnected with the NAO variability, resulting in a significant relationship between this climatic oscillation and fishery yields. More precisely, the NAO affects the target species abundance, recruitment, catchability, and body condition. These effects can be cumulative over time and act synergistically. In this study, the available information about this topic is reviewed, and the importance of the NAO as a largescale climatic oscillation in fisheries management is discussed using an ecosystem approach. We also discuss the possible effects of climate change on Atlantic and Mediterranean fisheries if this change were to affect the NAO pattern.

Effect of climatic oscillations on small pelagic fisheries and its economic profit in the Gulf of Cadiz

“…Finally, the planet is experiencing global warming. According to most forecasts, the climatic indices will become more and more extreme (for example Báez et al 2021 ), and as has been highlighted in this study, the extreme values of the climatic oscillations in most models are those that have the greatest impact. Thereby, those climatic oscillations should be incorporated into fishery management, and future studies should focus on finding the mechanisms involved at the regional level.…”

“…The patterns and processes reflected by climate indices are still unclear and difficult to discover (Straile and Stenseth 2007 ). Nevertheless, using global climate indices such as NAO, AO, or EA, the biological effects may exhibit a longer delay than with respect to any single local climate variables independently, which makes it possible for ecologists to anticipate them and make predictions (Báez et al 2021 ). The mechanisms by which these climate indices act remain unclear, although there are well-established plausible mechanisms in the literature that could explain the results found, as detailed above.…”

“…The effect of climatic variability of large-scale climatic phenomena on small pelagic fisheries is a well-described fact in scientific literature (for example Chávez et al 2003 ; Alheit et al 2009 ; Checkley et al 2017 ; Báez et al 2019a ; Báez et al 2021 ). Understanding the effect of these variations is essential for better management of fish stocks (Leitão et al 2014 ; Leitão 2015 ), as the climatic variables that affect the ocean can alter feeding patterns, growth, and the migratory behaviour of the fisheries’ target species (Miller et al 2010 ).…”

“…Understanding the effect of these variations is essential for better management of fish stocks (Leitão et al 2014 ; Leitão 2015 ), as the climatic variables that affect the ocean can alter feeding patterns, growth, and the migratory behaviour of the fisheries’ target species (Miller et al 2010 ). Many authors have shown that climatic oscillations can affect the catchability of species (Rubio et al 2015 ), their physical condition (Basilone et al 2006 ; Báez et al 2019b ), and fishing effort (Rubio et al 2015 ), amongst others (for example, see Báez et al 2021 for a review). Moreover, recent studies have shown that climatic oscillation could explain first sale fish market prices (Fernández et al 2020 ).…”

“…The NAO is defined by the redistribution of atmospheric masses between the subtropical high surface pressure centre located near the Azores (Azores High) and the centre of low surface pressures near Iceland (Icelandic Low) (Hurrell and Deser 2009 ; Báez et al 2021 ). The NAO phases determine the strength and direction of the westerly winds.…”