Researchers issue warning after discovering concerning pattern along US coastline: 'Something is going on, and it is real'

Our world is getting hotter, and that has complicated effects on our environment — including the parts we use for food. Researchers have identified one such worrisome interaction while studying striped bass in the Atlantic, according to Yale Environment 360.

What's happening?

The striped bass has been in decline for a long time due to overfishing. Last fall's fishing season seemed like an exception with anglers catching abundant bass, but those numbers have not been reflected in the number of fish coming to nearby bays to spawn in spring.

John Waldman, an aquatic conservation biologist from the City University of New York, called the low level of successful striped bass spawning "a real mystery," per Yale Environment 360.

One possible clue comes in the form of the striped bass' major food source, a herring species called the menhaden. They have also been failing to return from the ocean to spawn.

"I don't know if this is a larger cyclical pattern, if it's driven by how they're managed, or if it's because the water temperature is increasing," said doctoral student Janelle Morano, who has been study changes in menhaden distribution at Cornell University, according to Yale Environment 360. "But something is going on, and it is real."

Why is this change in spawning patterns important?

Reduced activity during these fish's traditional spawning seasons could be caused by what researchers call a "phenological mismatch." "Phenology" is the seasonal cycle of various animal and plant behaviors — like flowers blooming in spring and pollinators emerging at the same time to feed on them.

There are many manifestations of phenology that are connected in intricate, delicate ways. If one species misses seasonal cues or starts its cycle early or late, then all the species that interact with that first species are also impacted.

For example, monarch butterflies used to fly south when the milkweed they fed on started dying off for the winter in America. But with warmer temperatures, monarchs are now leaving later in the season, failing to find food en route, and dying off before reaching their winter homes.

If menhaden and striped bass are failing to spawn because of warmer waters and changes in available food, then both populations will plummet, affecting every species that relies on them for food or population control — with effects rippling out and touching every species from plankton to dolphins.

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This is also part of a wider pattern of phenology mishaps affecting species humans rely on, such as wine grapes.

What's being done about fish phenological mismatch?

While this phenomenon has been well studied on land, researchers are just beginning to investigate it in the sea. So far, there has not been a proposed way to intervene directly.

However, we can help slow the world's rising temperature by switching to less polluting energy sources, supporting eco-friendly brands, and voting for candidates who care for the environment.

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