Unraveling the Mystery of Southern New England’s Cod
The Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank stocks are overfished, but a new puzzle has emerged in the past 10 years.
May 17, 2021
While the plight of Atlantic cod in the northeast is well known, the emergence of a fishery off southern New England has puzzled scientists, but delighted anglers.
These days, it’s common knowledge that Atlantic cod are in bad shape, and dramatically so. Based on 2019 stock assessments, both the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank stocks continue to be overfished and the groundfish fishery north of Cape Cod has shifted to focus predominantly on haddock and pollock.
The Gulf Stream is migrating closer to Canada, and scientists are concerned
Isabella O Malley
Thursday, May 6th 2021, 12:02 pm - Ocean waters that are several degrees warmer than normal can have devastating impacts on ecosystems and fisheries.
North-central and eastern Canada experienced some of the most extreme temperature anomalies on Earth, along with parts of Russia and southeastern Europe, in the past. Temperatures that were 3–6°C above average in Atlantic Canada occurred and scientists observed the lowest Arctic sea ice extent on record in December 2010.
Fisheries significantly suffered from the harsh temperature anomalies and researchers have spent years investigating the causes of this unusual warmth. A study published in
Gulf Stream migration makes Northwest Atlantic Shelf one of the fastest-changing regions in global ocean
Scientists have revealed links between the migrating Gulf Stream and warming ocean waters.
May 3, 2021
The Northwest Atlantic Shelf is one of the fastest-changing regions in the global ocean, and is experiencing marine heat waves, altered fisheries and a surge in sea level rise along the North American east coast. A U.S. National Science Foundation-funded paper published in We used satellite data to show that when the Gulf Stream migrates closer to the underwater plateau known as the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, as it did after 2008, it blocks the southwestward transport of the Labrador Current that would otherwise provide cold, fresh, oxygen-rich water to the North American shelf, said lead author Gonçalves Neto.
We used satellite data to show that when the Gulf Stream migrates closer to the underwater plateau known as the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, as it did after 2008, it blocks the southwestward transport of the Labrador Current that would otherwise provide cold, fresh, oxygen-rich water to the North American shelf, said lead author Gonçalves Neto. This mechanism explains why the most recent decade has been the hottest on record at the edge of the Northeast United States and Canada, as the delivery system of cold water to the region got choked off by the presence of the Gulf Stream.
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IMAGE: An animated map and time series (same color convention) of the 2008 temperature anomaly on the Northwest Atlantic Shelf, highlighting the rapid warming in the most recent decade. view more
Credit: (Animation by Afonso Gonçalves Neto)
KINGSTON, R.I., April 20, 2021 The Northwest Atlantic Shelf is one of the fastest-changing regions in the global ocean, and is currently experiencing marine heat waves, altered fisheries and a surge in sea level rise along the North American east coast. A new paper, Changes in the Gulf Stream preceded rapid warming of the Northwest Atlantic Shelf, published in
Communications Earth & Environment by recent URI Graduate School of Oceanography graduate Afonso Gonçalves Neto reveals the causes, potential predictability and historical context for these types of rapid changes.