Significantly more fish in salt water than before can be found in the Panama Canal since its expansion in 2016. Above all, the number of large predatory fish such as the Atlantic Tarpun has increased. As a result, the fish population in the freshwater lake Gatún, which is part of the channel, has noticeably changed.
For the study, scientists at the Leibniz Institute for Water Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), the Free University of Berlin, the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama and the US Harvard University the composition of the Visme-Communities (2019-2023) in the lake.
To do this, they used a long -term series of scientific catch data for the number, biomass and spatial distribution of the species.
Instead of 26 now 76 percent saltwater fish
“Before the expansion of the channel, the Navy made only 26 percent, now 76 percent of the total mass of fish,” said the IGB. Of the marine species in the lake, 18 came from the Atlantic Ocean that lay north of the canal and five from the Pacific Ocean. The share of freshwater fishing types has fallen considerably.
With the expansion of the Panama Canal in 2016, extensive structural changes were made to the locking system according to the IGB. The new locks for the passage of ships are larger than the old ones. Every time a ship goes through, more fresh water flows into the sea and more salt water in the canal than before – and possibly more fish.
Access to dreaded New Oceans
According to the researchers, the renovation also increases the risk that some species will fully pass the channel and colonize the opposite ocean. Since most affected sea fish are robbers and eat other fish, their settlement can lead to changes in the ecosystem.
Source: Krone
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