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Fish are shrinking in response to global warming, study finds
Fish have lost half their average body mass and smaller species are making up a larger proportion of European fish stocks as a result of global warming, a study published Monday has found.
"It's huge," said study author Martin Daufresne of the Cemagref Public Agricultural and Environmental Research Institute in Lyon, France. "Size is a fundamental characteristic that is linked to a number of biological functions, such as fecundity"the capacity to reproduce."
Smaller fish tend to produce fewer eggs. They also provide less sustenance for predators"including humans"which could have significant implications for the food chain and ecosystem.
A similar shrinking effect was recently documented in Scottish sheep and Daufresne said it is possible that global warming could have "a significant impact on organisms in general."