Fish catch management strategies: Evaluating the interplay between body size and global warming

Abstract

Environmental temperature and body size influence the life cycle of the species, with consequences for population size. In addition, it has been reported that increased temperature can lead to a decrease in body size. In the context of a resource‐stock, whose abundance is diminished by the action of an endothermic predator and also by small‐scale fishing activity, we analysed a Schaefer‐type fishery model that incorporates parametric variables associated with thermal performance, metabolic theory, and warming. We project the biomass of the resource in a thermal tolerance range with an increasing temperature trend obtained from current data. In the short term there could be an increase in biomass. However, over time the stock will decline rapidly, in association with the intensity of temperature increase and fishing effort.