title: Slow adaptation in the face of rapid warming leads to collapse of the Gulf of Maine cod fishery.
abstract: Several studies have documented fish populations changing in response to long-term warming. Over the past decade, sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of Maine increased faster than 99% of the global ocean. The warming, which was related to a northward shift in the Gulf Stream and to changes in the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation and Pacific Decadal Oscillation, led to reduced recruitment and increased mortality in the region's Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) stock. Failure to recognize the impact of warming on cod contributed to overfishing. Recovery of this fishery depends on sound management, but the size of the stock depends on future temperature conditions. The experience in the Gulf of Maine highlights the need to incorporate environmental factors into resource management.
authors.affiliation: Gulf of Maine Research Institute, 350 Commercial Street, Portland, ME 04101, USA. apershing@gmri.org.
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Pershing
authors.affiliation: NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, CO 80305, USA.
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Alexander
authors.affiliation: Gulf of Maine Research Institute, 350 Commercial Street, Portland, ME 04101, USA.
authors.forename: Christina M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Hernandez
authors.affiliation: Gulf of Maine Research Institute, 350 Commercial Street, Portland, ME 04101, USA.
authors.forename: Lisa A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Kerr
authors.affiliation: Gulf of Maine Research Institute, 350 Commercial Street, Portland, ME 04101, USA.
authors.forename: Arnault
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Le Bris
authors.affiliation: Gulf of Maine Research Institute, 350 Commercial Street, Portland, ME 04101, USA.
authors.forename: Katherine E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Mills
authors.affiliation: School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA.
authors.forename: Janet A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Nye
authors.affiliation: Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, 60 Bigelow Drive, East Boothbay, ME 04544, USA.
authors.forename: Nicholas R
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Record
authors.affiliation: Gulf of Maine Research Institute, 350 Commercial Street, Portland, ME 04101, USA. School of Marine Sciences, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469, USA.
authors.forename: Hillary A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Scannell
authors.affiliation: NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, CO 80305, USA. Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.
authors.forename: James D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.affiliation: Gulf of Maine Research Institute, 350 Commercial Street, Portland, ME 04101, USA.
authors.forename: Graham D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Sherwood
authors.affiliation: School of Marine Sciences, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469, USA.
authors.forename: Andrew C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Thomas
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000818:Animals; D005398:Fisheries; D048389:Gadus morhua / Q000502:physiology*; D057232:Global Warming; D006358:Hot Temperature; D008281:Maine; D011157:Population Dynamics