PROVIDENCE – Global warming, not just over fishing may be a contributing factor to the dwindling stocks of cod, WBUR-FM 90.7, Massachusetts Public Radio reported.
This year fishing regulations restricted cod catching limits by 77 percent in an effort to reduce pressure on the species. The regulations heavily damaged the industry, but did not help the stock of fish to rebound, according to the news source, which added that an explanation can be found with global warming.
Nature, a scientific journal, published a study showing that global warming has been progressively driving fish stocks to cooler and deeper waters, reported WBUR. Species of the Northeast, such as flounder and cod, are no exceptions.
The National Marine Fisheries Service at Narragansett Laboratory and the Northeast Fisheries Science Center conducted a study that found a particular species of zooplankton is unable to survive in warmer waters, according to the Cape Cod Times.
This species is a food source of cod and its inability to survive in rising temperatures can provide some explanation for the stock of cod that is only eight percent of what a healthy stock is considered to be.