How climate change affects fisheries, raises risk for conflicts

From ocean acidification to rising sea levels and warming temperatures, climate change is taking a toll on the world’s oceans and fisheries. Scientists at NOAA, for example, have found that warming temperatures in the Bering Sea between Russia and Alaska are affecting the movement of Pacific cod and Alaska pollock, and that some fisheries are more vulnerable to climate change than others.

Tensions may also flare up in the coming years between fishing fleets in pursuit of stocks as different fish expand or contract their range. A research team led by Oregon State University was recently awarded more than a million dollars by the U.S. Department of Defense to study this issue. James Watson is an associate professor in the College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University and is the principal investigator on the project which is launching in September. He joins us to share details about it and what past fishing disputes on the high seas could tell us about future ones.