Co-Convenors:
Gretta Pecl (Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute, University of Tasmania, Australia)
Alistair J. Hobday (CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, Australia)
Stewart Frusher (Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute, University of Tasmania, Australia)
Warwick Sauer (Rhodes University, South Africa)

Regional global warming ‘hotspots’, typified by above average ocean temperature increases, provide the potential for early warning and evidence of the response by natural resources to climate change. In theory, regions at the ‘front-line’ of climate change should also be leading the field in terms of assessing impacts and evaluating adaptation options. Networking and synthesising outcomes from across hotspots can facilitate accelerated learning and also indicate sensible pathways for maximising adaptation and minimising impacts for other global regions.

This workshop is designed to (1) highlight where global marine ‘hotspots’ occur now, and where they are projected to occur in the future; (2) summarize the information currently emerging on biological climate change impacts in these areas, and (3) discuss the potential for developing a global network of scientists, policy makers and managers working in marine hotspots.

Ecological monitoring of hotspots provides us with one of the first opportunities to detect the nature and pace of climate change induced impacts on our marine ecosystems, and also the first prospect for validating species or ecosystem model projections against reality. Fisheries provide significant social and economic benefits globally, and early warning of changes in resource quality and/or availability is required to minimize social tensions (e.g., increased poverty and changes in resource allocation) and societal costs (e.g., income redistribution and government restructuring). Prior knowledge of how and when resources may alter will also facilitate the development, application and evaluation of adaptation options for fisheries.

Participants providing or presenting a summary of impacts from any of the global hotspots will be asked to contribute to a multi-authored publication in a high-ranking international journal. Identification of biological change in these hotspots is the main workshop challenge; however, participants are also requested to identify publications or unpublished data showing long-term change in oceanographic or physical characteristics of the area (e.g., SST, currents). Several potential proposals and funding sources for a global network of marine hotspots will be discussed.

Sunday, April 25 (9:00-17:30)

9:15

Alistair J. Hobday and Gretta Pecl
Identification of global marine hotspots: Sentinels for change and vanguards for adaptation (W5-6152)
Permission to post denied. Contact Author for presentation

9:30

Stewart Frusher, Gretta Pecl, Alistair J. Hobday, Craig Johnson and Zoe Doubleday
Climate driven changes in marine assemblages in SE Australia: A southern hemisphere ‘hotspot’ (W5-6312)
(pdf, 2.7 Mb)

9:45

Larry Hutchings, Carl van der Lingen, Chris Reason, Frank Shillington, Andy Cockcroft, Warren Potts, Romina Novo-Henriques, Paul Shaw and Warwick Sauer
The Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem (W5-6408)
(waiting for permission)

10:00

Graham Edgar and Stuart Banks
Catastrophic changes to inshore benthic communities following oceanographic warming events in the Galapagos archipelago (W5-6321)
Permission to post denied. Contact Author for presentation

10:15

Franz J. Mueter
Biological responses to recent climate variability on the eastern Bering Sea shelf (W5-6307)
(pdf, 1.3 Mb)

11:00

Thomas A. Okey, Alvaro Montenegro, Veronica Lo, Sabine Jessen and Hussein Alidina
Overview of climate change effects in British Columbia marine ecosystems (W5-6306)
(pdf, 1.6 Mb)

11:15

Nicholas K. Dulvy, Doug J. Beare, Julia L. Blanchard, Jan G. Hiddink, Simon Jennings, Brian J. MacKenzie and Allison L. Perry
Rapid ecological change in the Northeast Atlantic climate change hotspot (W5-6416)
(pdf, 1.7 Mb)

11:30

Nguyen Huu Ninh
Aquaculture and climate change in the coastal zone of Vietnam (W5-6341)
(waiting for permission)

11:45

Kuo-Tien Lee and Hsueh-Jung Lu
Impact of climate change on coastal fishery resources of Taiwan (W5-6406)
(waiting for permission)

12:00

Wang Hui
South China Sea
(waiting for permission)

12:15

Lucy Scott and Warwick Sauer
Vulnerability to ocean warming in the Mozambique channel region (W5-6407)
(waiting for permission)

14:00

Yury I. Zuenko
The Japan Sea hotspot: Impacts of warming on bio-productivity and fisheries resources (W5-6404)
(pdf, 0.5 Mb)

14:15

José H. Muelbert
Oceanography and biological production off South Brazil and Urugay (W5-6405)
(waiting for permission)

14:30

George L. Hunt, Jr.
Hotspots in warming sub-arctic seas (W5-6037)
(pdf, 2.2 Mb)