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| This paper reviews current literature on the projected effects of climate change on marine fish and shellfish, their fisheries, and fisherydependent
communities throughout the northern hemisphere. The review addresses the following issues: (i) expected impacts on ecosystem
productivity and habitat quantity and quality; (ii) impacts of changes in production and habitat on marine fish and shellfish species
including effects on the community species composition, spatial distributions, interactions, and vital rates of fish and shellfish; (iii) impacts
on fisheries and their associatedcommunities; (iv) implications for food security and associated changes; and (v) uncertainty andmodelling
skill assessment. Climate change will impact fish and shellfish, their fisheries, and fishery-dependent communities through a complex suite
of linked processes. Integrated interdisciplinary research teams are forming in many regions to project these complex responses. National and international marine research organizations serve a key role in the coordination and integration of research to accelerate the production
of projections of the effects of climate change on marine ecosystems and to move towards a future where relative impacts by region
could be compared on a hemispheric or global level. Eight research foci were identified that will improve the projections of climate impacts
on fish, fisheries, and fishery-dependent communities. | |
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