Are fish species adapting to warmer waters or moving to cooler areas? The answer poses major impacts in climate change adaptation, especially in areas identified as particularly vulnerable to climate change, by affecting local and regional fishing industries, food security and socio-economic stability. An international team of scientists from the Department of Botany and Zoology at Stellenbosch University and other institutes have teamed up with stakeholders in their respective regions to identify challenges facing fishing industries under climate change. On a global scale, research suggests that marine fishes are shifting their distribution ranges towards the poles, or into deeper waters, in order to escape ongoing climate change and warming oceans. Estimates suggest that fishes are shifting their range at a rate of about 31 kilometres per decade, while demersal species shift their distribution by going to deeper waters at a rate of 3.3 meter per decade.
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