Publication Date June 11, 2016 | The Day

As Long Island Sound warms, its fish species are changing

United States
Ryan Dubrule, deck hand on the Black Hawk charter fishing boat, earlier this month fillets one of the scup caught by passengers abroad the vessel. Photo: Judy Benson, The Day
Ryan Dubrule, deck hand on the Black Hawk charter fishing boat, earlier this month fillets one of the scup caught by passengers abroad the vessel. Photo: Judy Benson, The Day

"There's no question that, because of warmer water, we're seeing more scup and black sea bass, which had always been a New Jersey and southern Long Island fish," [Greg Dubrule, owner and captain of the Black Hawk] said...

This spring [Penny Howell, senior fisheries biologist with the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection] completed a research project documenting how the Sound has changed since the 1970s and projecting how the trends are likely to continue through 2080 as the effects of climate change intensify...

The data showed that year-to-year fluctuations in the Sound's water temperatures mirrored with patterns of Pacific air currents, with warming of the Sound occurring in response to effects of the jet stream in the Pacific