Irish fishermen fear climate crisis will end fishing in Ireland

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
17 Aug 2023 10:05

The rising temperatures of the North Atlantic Ocean are raising concerns about fish traveling to colder waters, as the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announces that average surface temperatures hit a new record last month of 24.9 degrees Celsius.

A ferry crosses the Irish Sea towards the port at Larne on the coast of Northern Ireland, January 1, 2021 (AP)

Irish fisherman Daragh McGuinness (23) voiced fear that the climate crisis may end the industry that has sustained his family for years, telling AFP that "It's a massive problem."

Working as a deckhand in the pilothouse of the Atlantic Challenge trawler docked in the port of Killybegs in northwest Ireland, he said: "It could really finish the fishing, in Ireland anyway at least."

The skyrocketing temperatures in the waters of the North Atlantic Ocean have raised concerns about fish traveling to colder waters as the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced that average surface temperatures in the North Atlantic hit a new record last month of 24.9 degrees Celsius (76.8 degrees Fahrenheit).

The Atlantic Challenge catches fish like the highly valuable blue whiting and mackerel - internationally demanded - and it returns to port one or two days after to keep it fresh.

"It would just concern you that you would be pushed further, too far north and then it wouldn't be viable to come back to Killybegs," McGuinness said.

Big fish out, little fish in

Chief executive of the Killybegs Fishermen's Organisation, Sean O'Donoghue, argues that climate change is posing a "dramatic effect" on white fish stocks like cod which prefer colder waters.

He feared that it is "only a matter of time" before fish like mackerel, blue whiting, and herring move permanently. "If we continue with the warming of the waters, it is inevitable, the pelagic species will move totally out of the waters. And we could end up that we have very little fish".

O'Donoghue added that mackerel was being caught by the Icelandic fleet, while his fleet was catching species like anchovies and sardines which prefer warmer waters but is causing an "overall concern".

The NOAA recorded back in June what was classified as a Category 4 or "extreme" marine heatwave off the coasts of Ireland and the UK.

Glenn Nolan, head of oceanographic and climate services at Ireland's Marine Institute, claims that the month recorded "significant" temperatures, meaning 4-5 degrees more than what is normal.

"When you're seeing a temperature at 24.5 or 21, as we saw in some of the coastal bays around the county of Galway... it's way above what you would ordinarily expect," he relayed, adding his expectation of a specific study to happen that would attribute the rise in temperatures in June and July to climate change.