Japanese sardines detected off US West Coast, likely due to climate change

Japanese sardines have recently been found in US Pacific waters, a shift that NOAA scientists attribute to climate-driven habitat expansion. Previously confined to the Asian North Pacific, these sardines were discovered during NOAA’s annual surveys, which also confirmed their presence through genomic analysis. Likely spurred by recent North Pacific marine heatwaves, the sardines have been detected from Washington to Southern California since 2022, raising concerns over potential interbreeding with the native Pacific sardine – a critical factor as Pacific stocks decline. The discovery underscores the importance of NOAA’s long-term ecological monitoring programs.(Seafood Source)