Fishing during extreme heatwaves alters ecological interactions and increases indirect fishing mortality in a ubiquitous nearshore system

PURPOSE: The data files contained herein are meant to serve as supplementary material for a published paper regarding the effects of clam digging during extreme heat waves on predator-prey interactions and indirect fishing mortality. This page will be updated with the complete citation for the article once it is officially published. DESCRIPTION: The increasing frequency and severity of heatwaves driven by global climate change are projected to have multifaceted ecological effects. While studies have assessed the impacts of heatwaves at the organism and population level, field-based studies documenting the effects of heatwaves on in situ ecological interactions are rare. Furthermore, studies assessing the biological and ecological implications of direct anthropogenic disturbance during heatwaves are absent. Here, we leverage mesocosm field experiments to document the effects of human activity (clam fishing) during an extreme heatwave on a ubiquitous predator-prey system at the land-sea interface: nearshore crabs and their bivalve prey. In monthly field experiments from May to September, we simulated clam fishing at low tide and subsequently returned marked, sub-legal sized clams…

Publisher

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Resources

15

Catalogue metadata updated

2026-03-24