It is widely projected that under future climate scenarios the economic importance
of Arctic Ocean fish stocks will increase. The Arctic Ocean is especially vulnerable
to ocean acidification and already experiences low pH levels not projected to occur
on a global scale until 2100. This paper outlines how ocean acidification must ...
It is widely projected that under future climate scenarios the economic importance
of Arctic Ocean fish stocks will increase. The Arctic Ocean is especially vulnerable
to ocean acidification and already experiences low pH levels not projected to occur
on a global scale until 2100. This paper outlines how ocean acidification must be
considered with other potential stressors to accurately predict movement of fish stocks
toward, and within, the Arctic and to inform future fish stock management strategies.
First, we review the literature on ocean acidification impacts on fish, next we identify
the main obstacles that currently preclude ocean acidification from Arctic fish stock
projections. Finally, we provide a roadmap to describe how satellite observations
can be used to address these gaps: improve knowledge, inform experimental
studies, provide regional assessments of vulnerabilities, and implement appropriate
management strategies. This roadmap sets out three inter-linked research priorities:
(1) Establish organisms and ecosystem physiochemical baselines by increasing the
coverage of Arctic physicochemical observations in both space and time; (2) Understand
the variability of all stressors in space and time; (3) Map life histories and fish stocks
against satellite-derived observations of stressors.
