Regime shift to smaller and less palatable fish species in a warm and oxygen-poor Humboldt Current system

Renato Salvatteci

doi:10.25250/thescbr.brk651

Regime shift to smaller and less palatable fish species in a warm and oxygen-poor Humboldt Current system

Authors

Renato Salvatteci Center for Ocean and Society, Kiel University https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7399-6465

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25250/thescbr.brk651

Keywords:

Global warming, ocean deoxygenation, fisheries, food security, anchovy

Abstract

Fish vertebrae from a marine sediment record collected from Peru reveal an unexpected regime shift in fish community. During the last interglacial (125 000 years ago) the Humboldt Current was characterized by warm waters with low oxygen contents. These conditions were favorable for small fish species (e.g. gobies) and detrimental for anchovy that nowadays sustains the largest fishery in the world.