Seas and oceans suffer the consequences of climate change with the increase in temperature, melting ice and the acidity of their waters. These effects translate into the extinction of some species and the displacement of others towards colder waters. And all this will have negative consequences for our fishing fleet, but also for our food.

Fish such as sardines or mackerel could disappear from our diet, since Spain is one of the countries “most exposed” to this “extreme” warming of its seas. Likewise, some species of mollusks such as mussels, clams or barnacles are at serious risk, as they have less food and suffer from changes in the intensity and frequency of waves.

This is what ‘Consumer’ magazine defends in an article according to which the “flight” of some species towards colder waters depletes our seas of nutrients, which causes catches to decrease. The logical consequence is that “fishing costs will increase, since fleets must sail further, which will have a “considerable” impact on the prices of these products.

In fact, current fish consumption in Spanish homes is already “at the lowest level in the entire historical series.” In 2022 it stood at 18.5 kilos per person per year, compared to 22.72 kilos in 2021, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

Even so, the manager of the Association of Fishing Producer Organizations in Spain, Antonio Nieto, defended that, “in a context of inflation like the current one, fishery foods are among those whose prices have risen the least.”

Another study by the AZTI research center reveals that, for every degree of warming of the sea, the mackerel or mackerel moves its spawning 370 kilometers to the north, while the mackerel advances its reproductive laying by about 12 days. This already translates into smaller specimens, which can have a certain impact on sales prices. And predictive models indicate that catches in the area will decrease, since there will be fewer fish. All these alterations will affect the activity of fishing fleets.

Currently, the Spanish fishing sector generates 20% of the total production of the European Union (EU), with the capture of more than 300 species of fish and seafood around the world, and, according to the publication, fishermen They “insist” that the “alterations” that climate change causes in fishing “do not currently affect consumers at the supply level”, aware that “in a few years this may change.”

For her part, Environmental Sciences expert Elena Ojea warned that, “if the sector does not adapt, the worst scenarios point to losses of more than 50% of fishing productivity.” “In many countries in the tropics, fishing will not be able to meet the demand for food as it is now,” she lamented.

For ‘Consumer’, the solutions involve carrying out “adaptive management”, convinced that “extraction must be adjusted to the real state of the fish stock and the activity must be planned under climate change scenarios.”