Fisheries/Aquaculture

The rapid warming of waters off New England is a key factor in the collapse of the region’s cod fishery, and changes to the species’ management are needed to save one of America’s oldest industries, according to a report published Thursday in Science m…

The rapid warming of waters off New England is a key factor in the collapse of the region’s cod fishery, and changes to the species’ management are needed to save one of America’s oldest industries, according to a report published Thursday in Science magazine… The lead author of the study, Andrew Pershing of the Gulf of Maine Research Institute in Portland, said the gulf is warming at a rate 99 percent faster than anywhere else in the world, and as a result, too many of the fish aren’t living past age 4 or 5. Cod can live to be older than 20… Malin Pinsky, a biology professor at Rutgers University who was not involved in the study, said the findings help explain the northern shift in the cod’s population. Researchers reported this month that numbers are improving in the colder waters off Newfoundland and Labrador… “What we’re learning about cod are the same kind of processes that are likely to play out in a wide range of important fish in this and other regions,” he said.

The rapid warming of waters off New England is a key factor in the collapse of the region’s cod fishery, and changes to the species’ management are needed to save one of America’s oldest industries, according to a report published Thursday in Science magazine… The scientists behind the Science report say the warming of the Gulf of Maine, which accelerated from 2004 to 2013, reduced cod’s capacity to rebound from fishing pressure. The report gives credence to the idea — supported by advocacy groups, fishing managers and even some fishermen — that climate change has played a role in cod’s collapse… Malin Pinsky, a biology professor at Rutgers University who was not involved in the study, said the findings help explain the northern shift in the cod’s population. Researchers reported this month that numbers are improving in the colder waters off Newfoundland and Labrador… “What we’re learning about cod are the same kind of processes that are likely to play out in a wide range of important fish in this and other regions,” he said.

Weather permitting, scientists from Rutgers University will release an autonomous underwater robot in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday, Oct. 21 to monitor temperature, salinity, oxygen levels, chlorophyll levels, and sediment concentrations… Because o…

Young East Coast fish are making moves to cooler waters, and researchers say that could mean changes for regional stock assessments… For decades, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has been charting fish movement along the Northeast …

A new study looking back over 1,000 years finds the flooding risk along the New York and New Jersey coasts increased greatly after industrialization, and major storms that once might have occurred every 500 years could soon happen every 25 years or so… The study by Penn State, Rutgers, Princeton, and Tufts universities, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, finds that flood heights have risen nearly 4 feet since the year 850, largely because of a sea level rise. The study advocates better risk management strategies to cope with storms… “A storm that occurred once in seven generations is now occurring twice in a generation,” said Benjamin Horton of Rutgers, one of six lead researchers involved in the study. “What we do know is that as sea level rise accelerates into the future, we are going to have more frequent flooding.”… “Every inch deeper in a core takes you further back in time,” Horton said. “We can stretch this technique back hundreds of years and thousands of years.”

Major storms that once might have hit the coasts of New York and New Jersey every 500 years could soon happen every 25 years or so… The study by Penn State, Rutgers, Princeton and Tufts universities and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology finds…

Under normal odds, the chance that a New York City or Jersey Shore resident would witness a so-called “500-year flood” – one with massive storm surge and flooding – would be so low, many residents would never live to witness one… “A storm that occurred once in seven generations is now occurring twice in a generation,” said Benjamin Horton, a Rutgers University marine and coastal sciences professor… According to Horton and researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Princeton, Tufts and Penn State universities, rising sea levels and increases in the types of storms that produce the largest storm surge are behind the rising threat… To look further into the past, the researchers studied salt marshes near New York City and along the Jersey shore. They took ground core samples, looking for microfossils called foraminifera. According to Horton, some species of foraminifera are linked to salt marsh growth and, therefore, high ocean levels. Others do not thrive in salt water, and would indicate fresh water and lower ocean levels.

Summer may be over, but the Sandy Hook peninsula’s early days of the offseason have been anything but uneventful… On Sept. 18, the National Park Service (NPS) and the American Littoral Society (ALS) welcomed scientists, naturalists and volunteers of …