This week, we have featured this series of videos by the Environmental Defense Fund about the impacts climate change is having on the ocean as observed by the people who live and work there — fishermen and women. Their stories have been compelling and provided a sense of the ways that climate change is harming and shifting global fish stocks. Today’s video tells the story of Darrell Wiley of Galveston, Texas, who explains how dead zones in the Gulf of Mexico caused by agricultural pollution are choking fish and limiting his catch.  

Why This Matters:  On Tuesday, pursuant to President Biden’s climate executive order, NOAA announced: “an agency-wide effort to gather initial public input” on “how to make fisheries, including aquaculture, and protected resources more resilient to climate change. This includes changes in management and conservation measures and improvements in science, monitoring, and cooperative research.”  There is no time to waste, given the shifts in fish stocks happening already all over the country and the growing issues with regional regulatory schemes not “matching” the shifting fish stocks.

What You Can Do:  Tell your story and provide them feedback!  Send comments by April 2, 2021, to OceanResources.Climate@noaa.gov.