Researchers issue warning over concerning conflicts between fish species: 'It's like you have less room to avoid nasty people at the party'
Researchers warn that cold-water fish in the Northwest are facing smaller habitats and increased competition with invasive fish species.
What's happening?
A team of researchers at Oregon State University has found that rising temperatures are increasing fish migration. As invasive species flee their warming habitats, they could cause cold-water fish species to die out.
"It's like you have less room to avoid nasty people at the party, and you end up being cornered in the same part of the room with the same people you don't enjoy, and you're all packed in the wrong place with the wrong companion," said Guillermo Giannico, a fisheries professor at OSU, per the Curry Coastal Pilot.
Why is this migration concerning?
This is especially bad news for more docile fish, such as redband and bull trout. They risk going extinct because of the aggression of species such as northern pike.
And when species go extinct, it throws off ecosystems. It affects the balance of predators and prey in the wild, which can ripple out into food supply chains.
Bull trout are important to Oregon's aquaculture. When the state previously experienced a drastic decline in bull trout, it took 30 years to rebuild the population.
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If northern pike migration wipes out bull trout, it'll take a lot of time and money to rebuild. Success isn't guaranteed either.
What's being done about the migration?
The best tools available are projections from OSU researchers that help predict future trends. The CCP reported that these projections show how factors such as drought and rising temperatures will affect ocean habitats through 2070.
Besides that, however, nothing is directly happening.
Alaska previously removed northern pike with gill nets, but these nets can have devastating consequences for native fish species.
Other researchers at OSU have previously analyzed various conservation methods to save the bull trout. They include moving the fish to a safer location, which is somewhat controversial — while it saves the fish, it takes them out of their original habitat.
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Researchers issue warning over concerning conflicts between fish species: 'It's like you have less room to avoid nasty people at the party' first appeared on The Cool Down.
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