Some fish stay in the same cozy bodies of water all year long. Others, like the alewife, a fish found in the waters of the Northern Atlantic Ocean, migrate between different areas to spawn and live. But changing weather patterns are affecting alewife migration, potentially harming their entire lifecycle, reported WMTW News 8 Portland.
What's happening?
Alewives are anadromous fish; they spawn in freshwater but live the rest of their lives in saltwater. They're commonly found in the Gulf of Maine, where they live and feed for a few years before returning to the freshwater areas they spawned in to start a new lifecycle.
Zach Whitener, research associate at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, told WMTW News 8 Portland that the changing climate, namely, changing precipitation patterns, is affecting alewives and other migrating fish species.
"If we haven't had enough rain and the lake level isn't high enough, they can't physically get out of their lakes when they want to," said Whitener. "Conversely, if there is a very big storm, they might get flushed out of their lake when they didn't want to."
Why are changing migration patterns important?
Alewives play an important role in the waters where they live. Maine's Department of Marine Resources states that fish-eating birds that usually eat salmon look to alewives for food when salmon migrate. Alewives also protect migrating and young salmon populations by swimming above them in the water, and are used as bait for lobster fishing.
When alewives and other migrating fish can't make it back to their saltwater homes on their usual schedules, their predators can't rely on them for food. Alewives might also lose many of their young if unexpected flooding flushes them out of their lakes before they're ready to make the move. When alewife numbers drop, our food supply can be affected, as many fish and seafood humans eat depend on healthy alewife populations.
Warmer global temperatures are altering the conditions that alewives and other fish need to thrive. Storms have become more intense in some areas and droughts more frequent in others, both of which can influence water levels. These changes throw off the timing and flow of rivers and lakes, which are crucial for migrating fish.
What's being done to protect migrating fish populations?
According to WMTW News 8 Portland, researchers are keeping an eye on migrating fish populations to better understand how weather patterns related to the changing climate affect them. Some areas also designate "no fishing zones" to regulate overfishing. Additionally, NOAA Fisheries and other organizations have removed dams that prevent migrating fish from moving between waters.
Ultimately, the best long-term solution is to slow the pace of climate change to protect natural habitats. Explore critical climate issues to understand how smart choices, like investing in cleaner energy and supporting conservation efforts, can keep ecosystems balanced and give migrating species a better chance to adapt.
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