How rising emissions will hurt Canada's fisheries, and how curbing them could help

Jun 30

*A lobster off the shores of Nova Scotia. Photo by Nick Hawkins*

Canada’s most valuable commercial fish stocks — such as Iobsters, scallops and snow crabs — will be hit hardest if emissions don’t fall drastically, says a new study.

The study, published in Nature on Wednesday, maps the fate of over 2,000 marine species and 90 fish stocks across the North Atlantic Ocean. It shows that if emissions are not drastically reduced, Canada’s most commercially exploited stocks will suffer the most.

The study examines two scenarios over the next 75 years for marine life in the region. In one, emissions are kept in line with the Paris Agreement target of warming to 1.5 degrees C, while the other shows what will occur if emissions continue to rise.

The high-emissions scenario — called RCP8.5, or business as usual — looks at a future where countries do not make significant changes to cut planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions.

Peter Allan

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