Increasing Sea Surface Temperatures Driving Widespread Tropicalization in South Atlantic Pelagic Fisheries.

ABSTRACT: Ocean warming is leading to a tropicalization of fisheries in subtropical regions around the world. Here, we scrutinize pelagic fisheries catch data from 1978 to 2018 in the South Atlantic Ocean in search of signs of tropicalization in these highly migratory and top-of-the-food-chain fish. Through the analysis of catch composition data, thermal preferences, and climatic data, we described the temporal variability in the mean temperature of the catch and assessed the role of sea surface temperature and the Brazil Current's transport volumes as drivers of such variability. We observed a significant increase in the mean temperature of the catches, indicating a transition towards a predominance of warm-water species, especially pronounced on the western side of the South Atlantic Ocean. This s

SUBMITTER: Sant'Ana R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12383501 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature