Americas News
Ship Noise Threat to Fish Breeding Grounds
Busy ship lanes could mean bad news for Arctic cod stocks in northern Canadian waters, scientists have found.
Research into the impact of vessel noise on fish behaviour in northern Canadian waters found that Arctic cod sacrifice much of their foraging and feeding thabits to get away from ship noise.
Such interruption could have a negative impact of the species' overall breeding pattern, according to scientific news provider Science News.
Breeding disturbance could interrupt the food chain in these waters particularly as shipping traffic tends to increase during summer which is the crucial open-water feeding period for marine species. In addition, receding Arctic ice may bring increased levels of shipping traffic to these regional waters.
Previous research found negative effects from shipping traffic on porpoises and beaked whales, the report said.
