Researchers from Germany and Peru jointly develop new adaptation strategies to the impacts of climate change on the Humboldt upwelling area off the Peruvian coast.
The sea off the west coast of South America is one of the most productive fishing grounds of the world. In the Humboldt Current system, upwelling of cold and nutrient rich waters stimulate the growth of plankton that in turn serve as food for commercially exploited fish species, such as anchovy or mahi-mahi. Changes in the ecosystem due to increasing ocean warming does not only have an impact on the health of the oceans and fish populations in the region, but also on the worldwide fish and seafood market. In the Humboldt-Tipping project funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), scientists from Germany and Peru led by Kiel University have comprehensively investigated these relationships in the Humboldt upwelling area off the coast of Peru for four years and developed adaptation strategies together with local user groups to the changing environmental conditions. The research and its results from the first phase are published in form of a virtual exhibition that can be visited online.
Climate change has a direct impact on one of the most important fish areas in the world. Ecological, social and economic dynamics are closely linked in the Humboldt upwelling area like in hardly any other region on earth. Around eight per cent of the global catch of marine resources come from the coasts of Peru. Around 80 per cent of the total catch is exported as fishmeal and fish oil as main ingredients of aquaculture feed, for example to China and Norway.
Read more at Kiel University
Image: Artisanal fishing off Peru's coast: The Humboldt Current provides an abundant food supply for numerous fish species, including the anchovy. (Credit: © Frederike Tirre, Kiel University)