Warming seas and changing ocean currents are driving sardines and other small pelagic fish species northward along the coast of northwest Africa, including Morocco. These are the findings of a study carried out by researchers from Senegal, France, Norway, Morocco, Mauritania and the Gambia.
Small pelagic fish, notably sardines, are migrating along the coasts of northwest Africa, reveals a recent study published in the journal Scientific Reports. The work, carried out by scientists from various institutions in Senegal, France, Norway, Morocco, Mauritania and the Gambia, analyzed data from 2,363 trawl samples and 170,000 km of acoustic surveys. at sea carried out between 1995 and 2015.
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The results reveal that the southern part of the Canary Current Large Marine Ecosystem (CCLME), which extends from Morocco to Senegal, has experienced significant warming over the past 34 years, and that this warming trend has been accompanied by changes in wind speed and intensity of upwelling, particularly in areas where coastal upwelling was already strongest. The researchers say they observed a significant shift in the northern limit of Sardinella aurita, which has moved northward at a rate of 181 km per decade since 1995. Likewise, the abundance of sardines has increased in the subtropics and decreased in the intertropical region, the study reveals.
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Average sea surface temperature (SST) and a decrease in marine productivity in the southern regions of the CCLME are driving this shift in long-term trends, the researchers say, noting that the shift in sardine populations northward has significant implications for Morocco, which has seen an increase in sardine catches in recent years. The exceptional presence of sardines as far as Casablanca in 2015 is probably linked to the shift in their distribution towards the north observed in this study.
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Affected by global warming, notably drought, desertification and rising sea levels, Morocco, like the rest of northwest Africa, sharing the same fish stocks, should benefit from this migration of sardines, researchers still believe. They recommend that they adopt a common regional policy in favor of food security and food sovereignty.
