Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Climate impact on Italian fisheries (Mediterranean Sea)

  • Rapid Communication
  • Published:
Regional Environmental Change Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Global warming is increasingly affecting marine ecosystems and ecological services they provide. One of the major consequences is a shift in species geographical distribution, which may affect resources availability to fisheries. We computed the mean temperature of the catch (MTC) for Italian catches from 1972 to 2012 to test if an increase of warmer-water species against colder-water ones was observed. We further analysed the relationship among MTC, landings, fishing effort and climatic factors through a Linear Mixed Models approach. Global MTC increased at a rate of 0.12 °C per decade. Though, by considering the influence of sea surface temperature (SST), a strongest increase (0.31 °C) was estimated in southernmost areas, while in the northernmost basin (Northern Adriatic Sea) a decrease of 0.14 °C was observed. SST resulted the most relevant driver, and the relationship between MTC and SST showed a high spatial variability both in terms of strength and sign, being positively stronger in southernmost areas while negative in the northernmost basin. The result is probably underestimated since several psychrophilous and thermophilous species were not included in the analysis. However, it seems that a change towards warmer-water species has already occurred in Italian marine ecosystems. Conversely, total landings temporal dynamics seem mostly driven by changes in fishing effort rather than by MTC and climatic factors. Consequently, fishery management strategies need to focalize primarily on fishing effort reduction, in order to reduce the pressure on the stocks while increasing their resilience to other stressors, among which global warming.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1

References

  • Anticamara JA, Watson R, Gelchu A, Pauly D (2011) Global fishing effort (1950–2010): trends, gaps, and implications. Fish Res 107:131–136. doi:10.1016/j.fishres.2010.10.016

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Azzurro E, Moschella P, Maynou F (2011) Tracking signals of change in Mediterranean fish diversity based on local ecological knowledge. PLoS ONE 6(9):e24885. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0024885

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Barton K (2014) MuMIn: multi-model inference. R package version. 1.10.5. http://CRAN.R-project.org/package=MuMIn. Accessed 20 December 2014

  • Ben Rais Lasram F, Guilhaumon F, Albouy C, Somot S, Thuiller W, Mouillot D (2010) The Mediterranean Sea as a ‘cul-de-sac’ for endemic fishes facing climate change. Glob Change Biol 16:3233–3245. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2010.02224.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bertrand JA, Gil de Sola L, Papaconstantinou C, Relini G, Souplet A (2002) The general specifications of the MEDITS surveys. Sci Mar 66:9–17

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bianchi CN (2007) Biodiversity issues for the forthcoming tropical Mediterranean Sea. Hydrobiologia 580:7–21. doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-6156-1_1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brander K (2010) Impacts of climate change on fisheries. J Mar Syst 79:389–402. doi:10.1016/j.jmarsys.2008.12.015

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brander K (2013) Climate and current anthropogenic impacts on fisheries. Clim Change 119:9–21. doi:10.1007/s10584-012-0541-2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burnham KP, Anderson DR (2002) Model selection and multimodel inference: a practical information-theoretic approach, 2nd edn. Springer, Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  • Burnham KP, Anderson DR, Huyvaert KP (2011) AIC model selection and multimodel inference in behavioral ecology: some background, observations, and comparisons. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 65(1):23–35. doi:10.1007/s00265-010-1029-6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cataudella S, Spagnolo M (2011) The state of Italian marine fisheries and aquaculture. Ministero delle Politiche Agricole, Alimentari e Forestali, Rome

    Google Scholar 

  • Cheung WWL, Watson R, Pauly D (2013) Signature of ocean warming in global fisheries catch. Nature 497:365–369. doi:10.1038/nature12156

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Colloca F, Cardinale M, Giannoulaki M, Scarcella G, Jenko K, Fiorentino F, Bellido JM, Maynou F (2011) Rebuilding Mediterranean fisheries: toward a new paradigm for ecological sustainability in single species population models. Fish Fish 14:89–109. doi:10.1111/j.1467-2979.2011.00453.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Conversi A, Fonda Umani S, Peluso T, Molinero JC, Santojanni A, Edwards M (2010) The Mediterranean sea regime shift at the end of the 1980s, and intriguing parallelisms with other European basins. PLoS ONE 5(5):e10633. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0010633

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gamito R, Costa MJ, Cabral HN (2015) Fisheries in a warming ocean: trends in fish catches in the large marine ecosystems of the world. Reg Environ Change 15:57–65. doi:10.1007/s10113-014-0615-y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gasparini GP, Ortona A, Budillon G, Astraldi M, Sansone E (2005) The effect of the Eastern Mediterranean Transient on the hydrographic characteristics in the Strait of Sicily and in the Tyrrhenian Sea. Deep-Sea Res I 52:915–935

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grueber CE, Nakagawa S, Laws RJ, Jamieson IG (2011) Multimodel inference in ecology and evolution: challenges and solutions. J Evolut Biol 24(4):699–711. doi:10.1111/j.1420-9101.2010.02210.x

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Haynie AC, Pfeiffer L (2012) Why economics matters for understanding the effects of climate change on fisheries. ICES J Mar Sci 69(7):1160–1167. doi:10.1093/icesjms/fss021

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hurrell J et al. (2014) The Climate Data Guide: Hurrell North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) Index (station-based). https://climatedataguide.ucar.edu/climate-data/hurrell-north-atlantic-oscillation-nao-index-station-based. Accessed 25 January 2014

  • IPCC (2013) Summary for Policymakers. In: Stocker TF, Qin D, Plattner GK, Tignor M, Allen SK, Boschung J, Nauels A, Xia Y, Bex V, Midgley PM (eds) Climate change 2013: the physical science basis. Contribution of working group I to the fifth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 4–29

    Google Scholar 

  • Lionello P, Galati MB (2008) Links of the significant wave height distribution in the Mediterranean Sea with the Northern Hemisphere teleconnection patterns. Adv Geosci 17:13–18. doi:10.5194/adgeo-17-13-2008

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller K, Charles A, Barange M, Brander K, Gallucci VF, Gasalla MA, Khan A, Munro G, Murtugudde R, Ommer RE, Perry RI (2010) Climate change, uncertainty, and resilient fisheries: institutional responses through integrative science. Prog Oceanogr 87:338–346. doi:10.1016/j.pocean.2010.09.014

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Norman-López A, Plagányi E, Skewes T, Poloczanska E, Dennis D, Gibbs M, Bayliss P (2013) Linking physiological, population and socio-economic assessments of climate-change impacts on fisheries. Fish Res 148:18–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pecl GT, Ward TM, Doubleday ZO, Clarke S, Day J, Dixon C, Frusher S, Gibbs P, Hobday AJ, Hutchinson N, Jennings S, Jones K, Li X, Spooner D, Stoklosa R (2014) Rapid assessment of fisheries species sensitivity to climate change. Clim Change 127:505–520. doi:10.1007/s10584-014-1284-z

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perry RI, Cury P, Brander K, Jenning S, Möllmann C, Planque B (2010) Sensitivity of marine systems to climate and fishing: concepts, issues and management responses. J Mar Syst 79:427–435. doi:10.1016/j.jmarsys.2008.12.017

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pinhero JC, Bates DM (2000) Mixed-effects models in S and S-PLUS. Springer, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Planque B, Fromentin JM, Cury P, Drinkwater JF, Jennings S, Perry RI, Kifani S (2010) How does fishing alter marine populations and ecosystems sensitivity to climate? J Mar Syst 79:403–417. doi:10.1016/j.jmarsys.2008.12.018

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Portner HO, Peck MA (2010) Climate change effects on fishes and fisheries: towards a cause-and-effect understanding. J Fish Biol 77(8):1745–1779. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8649.2010.02783.x

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pranovi F, Caccin A, Franzoi P, Malavasi S, Zucchetta M, Torricelli P (2013) Vulnerability of artisanal fisheries to climate change in the Venice Lagoon. J Fish Biol 83(4):847–864. doi:10.1111/jfb.12124

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • R Core Team (2012) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R foundation for statistical computing, Vienna, Austria, http://www.R-project.org/

  • Rijnsdorp AD, Peck MA, Engelhard GH, Möllmann C, Pinnegar JK (2009) Resolving the effect of climate change on fish populations. ICES J Mar Sci 66:1570–1583. doi:10.1093/icesjms/fsp056

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Somot S, Sevault F, Déqúe M (2006) Transient climate change scenario simulation of the Mediterranean Sea for the twenty-first century using a high-resolution ocean circulation model. Clim Dyn 27:851–879. doi:10.1007/s00382-006-0167-z

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Teixeira CM, Gamito R, Leitão F, Cabral HN, Erzini K, Costa MJ (2014) Trends in landings of fish species potentially affected by climate change in Portuguese fisheries. Reg Environ Change 14:657–669. doi:10.1007/s10113-013-0524-5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tsikliras AC, Stergiou KI (2013) Mean temperature of the catch from the Greek Seas. Proc Hell Conf Ichthyol 15:205–208

    Google Scholar 

  • Tsikliras AC, Stergiou KI (2014) Mean temperature of the catch increases quickly in the Mediterranean Sea. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 515:281–284. doi:10.3354/meps11005

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vicente-Serrano SM, Trigo RM (2011) Hydrological, socioeconomic and ecological impacts of the North Atlantic Oscillation in the Mediterranean region. Springer, Houten

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Zuur AF, Ieno EN, Walker NJ, Saveliev AA, Smith GM (2009) Mixed effects models and extensions in ecology with R, statistics for biology and health, statistics for biology and health. Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-0-387-87458-6

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge M. Gambino and L. Labanchi for providing landing and fishing effort data, the Italian Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies for granting permission to use MEDITS data. We also thank V. Meccia for preparing and providing data of SST and NAO. The study benefited from discussions with colleagues of the ICES Working Group on the History of Fish and Fisheries, who are warmly thanked.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Italian National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA), Loc. Brondolo, Chioggia, 30015, Venice, Italy

    Tomaso Fortibuoni & Otello Giovanardi

  2. The Italian National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA), Via Vitaliano Brancati 60, 00144, Rome, Italy

    Federica Aldighieri

  3. Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, CEMAS–Centre for Estuarine and coastal Marine Sciences, University Ca’ Foscari of Venice, Campus scientifico, Via Torino 150, 30170, Venice, Italy

    Fabio Pranovi & Matteo Zucchetta

Authors
  1. Tomaso Fortibuoni
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Federica Aldighieri
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Otello Giovanardi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Fabio Pranovi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Matteo Zucchetta
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tomaso Fortibuoni.

Additional information

Editor: Wolfgang Cramer.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOCX 11 kb)

Supplementary material 2 (PDF 20 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Fortibuoni, T., Aldighieri, F., Giovanardi, O. et al. Climate impact on Italian fisheries (Mediterranean Sea). Reg Environ Change 15, 931–937 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-015-0781-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-015-0781-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation