Hawaii’s beloved bigeye tuna will be smaller, less abundant and farther away for local fishermen to catch as the Pacific heats up with global warming, scientists project.
And that could mean more expensive poke bowls and sashimi plates if the supply of fresh ahi declines as expected.
Climate change will certainly impact our fleet, said Eric Kingma, executive director of the Hawaii Longline Association. It’s something we are definitely watching closely.
The association represents about 145 longline vessels and almost all target tuna. They have made Honolulu a top port in the U.S. in terms of the value of fish landed roughly $104 million in 2017. The Hawaii fleet catches about 80% of all the bigeye tuna landed in the U.S.
But as the planet warms as a result of greenhouse gas emissions, ocean temperatures are also rising. The changing climate is also affecting the water’s oxygen levels and acidification.
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