Igal Berenshtein

Congratulation to Zuckerman Faculty Scholar Igal Berenshtein, and  head of the Marine Ecology and Ocean Health Lab in The Leon H. Charney School of Marine Sciences at  the University of Haifa, on the publication of  Historical depletion and future drought-driven risks to Gulf of Mexico fisheries production in the current issues of Nature Communications.

Ecosystem modeling shows that drought effects on nutrient delivery and food webs may overshadow fishing pressure in driving declines in fish biomass and catches.  As climate change increases drought frequency and severity, coastal fishery production, critical for food, jobs, and ecosystems, faces growing long-term risk unless mitigation strategies are developed.

Abstract:
A major depletion of ~42% in total fisheries production occurred in the Gulf of Mexico in the early 1990’s but received limited scientific attention. Terrestrial drought in the US during the late 1980s, combined with high Gulf menhaden fishing pressure, led to a depleted forage base, with cascading effects on other species and fisheries in the Gulf, acting primarily via a reduction in Mississippi River flow. There is an urgent need to explore possible mitigation strategies and the mechanisms by which drought conditions affect the Gulf and other marine ecosystems.