Spearfishers help to prove a point over climate change

FishnewsEU.com: Competition records collected by spearfishing clubs over the past 50 years will be used by CSIRO scientists in a new project which aims to detect changes to fish distributions along the south-east Australian coast in response to warming coastal waters.

CSIRO Ichthyologist Daniel Gledhill said they hope to understand how these changes will impact on the experience of recreational fishers and to better develop adaptation strategies for coastal communities.

“As marine species and fishing communities adapt to climate change, fishers are facing increased challenges. Ensuring sustainable use and management of coastal waters is becoming increasingly complex,” he said.

Scientists will review historic records from New South Wales, Victorian and Tasmanian spearfishing clubs from as early as the 1960s. “Long-term, statistically robust datasets of marine species are rarely available, so scientists are turning to novel, high-quality datasets such as those from spearfishing clubs to fill this knowledge gap. Spearfishing competition data sheets are a historical ‘biodiversity inventory’ for recreational fish species.

“Recreational users of coastal waters are often in the best position to see changes occurring locally. These records will provide us with a precious insight into how fish populations have moved as the East Australian Current (EAC) pushes southwards.

“Geographic extensions of species ranges are already being recorded for recreationally targeted species in Australian waters,” he added....

Fishermen with a caught stingray on Hinchinbrook Island, 1938