SEAFOOD 101
Emerging climate pattern builds on
“warm blob” to influence marine
species off the West Coast
El Niño is a climate pattern that brings warmer
ocean temperatures to the central Pacific
Ocean near the equator. We talked with climate
scientist Nate Mantua of NOAA Fisheries’
Southwest Fisheries Science Center about what
the first El Niño since the winter of 2009–2010
means for the ocean ecosystem along the West
Coast of the United States.
What are the signs of El Niño so far?
The signatures of El Niño right now are extreme and they’re in the tropics.
They’re really along the equator from the coast of South America most of the
way across the tropical Pacific, and those signatures include very warm water
in the eastern half of the tropical Pacific, much weaker than normal trade winds
and a dramatic shift in areas of heavy rainfall in the tropics. El Niño, which
typically gets going in the summertime in the tropics, has its most profound
influences on the West Coast and over North America once we get into fall
and winter.
How would El Niño likely interact with the blob?
As the El Niño continues to develop in the tropics, a jet stream pattern will
replace the ridge of high pressure in the Gulf of Alaska associated with the
creation of blob with a trough of low pressure. In many El Niño winters of
the past, the jet stream and the storm track is pointed at Southern California,
generating storms that pull a lot of heat out of the North Pacific. It brings
incredibly warm mild air into the Pacific Northwest that affects the climate there.
We’ll likely see the warm blob cool off on the offshore side but move along the
coast and warm the entire coastal zone from Alaska down into Mexico, through
the end of winter.
What does all this mean for marine life?
As more of that offshore warming shows up onshore, we’ll see even more
dramatic changes in marine life in terms of tropical and subtropical species. A
warm ocean is not, it’s just not an ideal habitat for juvenile salmon or maturing
salmon off the Pacific Northwest. They don’t get the nutrition they need. So
they’re going to be driven deeper or to other places. It will also likely cause
more problems for California sea lion nursing mothers and their pups in 2016.
The winners looks to me like the sportfishingsport fishing community in
Southern California. They’ve had phenomenal fishing for a year and half now
on all these warm-water species: bluefin tuna, yellowtail, yellowfin tuna, mahi
mahi, the occasional marlin. It’s like having a Baja fishery right out the door of
Los Angeles and San Diego. That may continue or even increase, and it will likely
spread up the coast of California.
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El Niño Signals More Changes for the Pacific
Spec ies common name:
PACI F IC HAL IBUT
Sc ient i f ic Name:
Hi p p o g l os s u s s t e n o l e p i s
Sou rce:
Wi ld ha r ve s t ed , hook- and - l i ne gea r ( bot t om
long l i ne s)
Popu l at ion:
Not over f i shed
Fi sh i ng Rate:
Techn ica l l y unde f i ned under NOAA
F i sher ie s g u ide l i ne s , managed w it h ha r ve s t leve l s s et
by t he I nt er nat iona l Pac i f ic Ha l ibut Commi s s ion .
Habi t at Impac t s :
Bot t om long l i ne s do cont ac t t he
s ea f loor, t her e for e damage t o bot t om habit at i s
con s ider ed neg l i g ible.
Bycat ch:
Seabi rd s and ot her f i sh . F i sher s fol low a number
of r eg u l at ion s t o pr event and r educe t he impac t of any
bycat ch i n t he f i sher y. The w ide s pr ead u s e of s t r eamer s
i n t he bot t om long l i ne f i sher y ha s r educed s eabi rd bycat ch
by up t o 90 per cent per ve s s e l .
Spec ies common name:
ALASK AN SNOW CRAB
Popu l at ion:
Not over f i shed
Fi sh i ng Rate:
Not subj ec t t o over f i sh i ng
Habi t at Impac t s :
Cr ab pot s a r e le s s damag i ng t han
mobi le gea r becau s e t hey a r e s t at iona r y and cont ac t a
much sma l ler a r ea of t he s ea f loor. Impac t s on habit at
a r e mi nor becau s e snow c r abs a r e f i shed i n a r ea s of
sof t s ed iment such a s s i lt and mud .
Bycat ch:
Fema le c r ab (wh ich may not be ha r ve s t ed ),
ma le s under t he commer c i a l s i ze , and non- t a r get ed
c r ab s pec ie s a s we l l a s a sma l l number of ot her s pec ie s
i nc lud i ng oc t opu s , Pac i f ic cod , Pac i f ic ha l ibut , ot her
f l at f i sh , s ponge s , cor a l and s ea s t a r s .
Check out
to learn more about the
complex science-based management process actively
sustaining our seafood supply.
Did you know?
The 2012 snow crab harvest was
worth more than $166 million?
(Source: NOAA FIshwatch)
Did you know?
95% of 2012 pacific halibut
harvest of 34 million pounds was
landed off the coast of Alaska?
(Source: NOAA FIshwatch)
Satellite image of SST anomolies from July
2015. Photo courtesy of NOAA. Climate.gov
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