Last October Dr. Daniel Pauly and Dr. Dyhia Belhabib gave a presentation in Seattle to a group of Sea Around Us website users, describing new data tools and reiterating past and current research.

Dr. Pauly described why catch reconstructions are important and how they are conducted, and Dr. Belhabib  narrowed in on a specific case study in Gabon.

The case study in Gabon — as Dr. Pauly described — “could be replicated over 200 times” as numerous other case studies have been completed globally.

The video presentation was accompanied by a PowerPoint presentation, available here.

Water spills from the edge of a giant, melting iceberg on the cover of the November 2015 issue of Science.

The special issue focused on the effects of climate change on our ocean systems, and highlighted research by Dr. William Cheung, an Associate Professor with the Changing Ocean Research Unit at the University of British Columbia, and Director (Science) of the Nereus Program. The journal used a map Dr. Cheung and his team created that describes the effects of changing water temperatures on fish species migration.

“This is the first global map that projects changes in species distribution and its impacts on marine biodiversity under climate change,” said Dr. Cheung in an email.

The map depicts the projected increase of fish species found in waters in higher latitudes as global waters warm. But while the number of species increases near the poles, many would disappear from equatorial waters.

The map was used in an article about boarfish – a bright orange, small and spiny fish that is exploding in numbers in the north Atlantic. As author Marianne Lavelle writes in Science:

“The boarfish has become one symbol of an emerging global issue: the often surprising disruptions that climate change can create in the world’s fisheries, as marine populations move, flourish, and wither as a result of warming seas.”

But the boarfish is only one among many species that are changing migration patterns due to climate change.

A study conducted by researchers at Rutgers University, who analyzed more than 40 years of census data on 350 species off North America, found that some 70% of species were shifting their ranges or moving to shallower or deeper waters because of changing water temperatures.

A previous study by Dr. Cheung – which was co-authored by Dr. Daniel Pauly from the Sea Around Us, and published as a letter in Nature – found that as water temperatures in high latitudes warm, an increase of tropical fish should be found in fishermen’s nets.

With the Paris climate change conference starting on November 30^th, Dr. Cheung wants to see ocean warming on the agenda.

As scientists, politicians, and media from around the world descend on the capital city to try and forge a consensus on how to battle climate change, he believes warming of the oceans should be a priority in the discussions.

“Any solution without considering the ocean is incomplete,” he said.

The Sea Around Us Catch Allocation Map is an interactive tool that allows users to view global catch using different parameters, like country, year, functional or commercial group, and taxa, from 1950 until 2010. Two or more countries can also be viewed at the same time.

The embedded video is a short and concise guide on how to use the tool.

Click here to try the tool out yourself.

And if you have further questions as to how it works, click here for more information. You will find diagrams like the one below that are complimentary to the video.

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The Sea Around Us is gaining feedback from its scientific and research users to create more robust tools and stronger web content.

On Tuesday October 26, several researchers met in Seattle, Washington to discuss improved methods for disseminating and displaying data on the Sea Around Us website.

Scientists from the Ocean Health Index, the University of Washington, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), among several other organizations, provided practical feedback about improvements that could enhance the utility of the web services provided by the Sea Around Us.

“Everyone was interested in the process by which the Sea Around Us reconstructs catch data, and how they can optimize the extraction of data for their research needs from the website,” said Dr. Deng Palomares, senior scientist with the Sea Around Us.

The researchers provided feedback for potential additions to the tools and data – like a user’s guide for maps; an easier system for providing feedback on data or potential corrections; and even an area for policy suggestions for non-scientific users.

Many of the researchers were impressed with the mapping tool. The tool creates visual impressions of where fish are caught and what countries are catching them – throughout time from 1950 to 2010.

“They were very impressed by the mapping tool and its potentials and said it was the most powerful tool we have ,” said Palomares.

“It was important to receive feedback today from user groups, and how they appreciate and utilize the Sea Around Us website,” she added.