By office in 消息公告, 演講公告 on

Speaker: William Cheung (Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia)

Time: Dec 10 (Tuesday) at 1: 30pm

Location: 2nd floor, auditorium, Institute of Oceanography, NTU (海洋所2F大講堂)

Title: Detection, attribution and projection of climate change effects on global fisheries

Abstract

    Climate change and ocean acidification are recognized as major threats to marine biodiversity and fisheries.

    My research aims to develop theoretical and empirical understanding on the vulnerability and biological responses of marine biota and fisheries to these threats. In this talk, I present a series of studies that detect, attribute and project climate change impacts on global marine fisheries.

    Using a metric called the "mean temperature of catch", I show that climate change has already been affecting global fisheries in the past four decades through changes in species composition.

    I developed and applied modelling approaches to study the effects of climate change on exploited fishes and invertebrates, and assessed their implications for biodiversity and fisheries.

    The models project shifts in distributions of fishes and invertebrates globally, resulting in species turnover and tropicalization of fish communities.

    Incorporating the concept of capacity and oxygen limitation of growth in marine water-breathing ectotherms into the models, I project a global shrinking of body size of exploited marine fishes at both individual and community levels under warming.

    My works improve our understanding on the past and potential future impacts of climate change on global fisheries, and contribute to marine ecosystems management under climate change.