Climate change
Norwegian coastal waters are getting warmer
Data collected over the past 90 years shows that temperatures are up to 2°C higher.
"It may not sound like a big change, but one or two degrees is a lot. The average temperature is often very stable. So when it changes, it is a significant change compared to what it usually is," marine scientist Mari Myksvoll is quoted as saying by the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research.
The data comes after researchers have been monitoring water temperatures all along the Norwegian coast since 1935. For 90 years, eight permanent hydrographic stations installed in different parts of the country have been checked by volunteers on a weekly basis.
"It is only when we have observed something long enough that we see its value," says researcher Mari Myksvoll.
The Institute's experts link such a rise in temperature to global warming and stress that it will inevitably affect marine life.
"We are noticing that the water is getting warmer," fisherman Kjell Figenschou told the Barents Observer.
Figenschou, who fishes in the waters of the Barents Sea near the Arctic town of Kirkenes, says that fishing has become more difficult as a result:
"There is a lot more dirt and algae covering our fishing nets. As a result, the fish try to avoid the nets. The dirt and algae affect the equipment on the trawls - they don't work as efficiently anymore," Kjell Figenschou told the Barents Observer, adding that he believes global warming is one of the reasons.
According to experts at the Institute of Marine Research, warmer waters affect the spawning of cod:
"Some species have absolute temperature limits. Cod, for example, cannot spawn when the temperature rises above 10 degrees," Myksvoll is quoted as saying.
The Barents Observer has previously reported that more fish species typical of southern waters have been discovered along the Norwegian coast over the past 30 years.
"I see cod, mackerel, yellowfin tuna, herring and haddock coming north from the south. For example, 10 years ago there was not so much mackerel in the north of the Barents Sea," Kent Jensen, who has been fishing in the Barents Sea near Kirkenes for 15 years, told the Barents Observer.
