Talking Points: Fishing hotspots run cold as climate changes
MINNEAPOLIS -- Minnesota is the land of 10,000 lakes and a few million fishing stories.
But these days Minnesota fish have a story for us - many of them are having trouble breathing. It comes as lakes and rivers warm, oxygen levels decline and fish ultimately die.
Across the world, the evidence of climate change is glaring. Here at home, the changes can be more subtle. But because of climate change, a Minnesota pass time is changing.
In Talking Points, Esme Murphy spoke with five different experts including Mike Augustyniak, WCCO's Director of Meteorology, climatologists and a fishing guide about the subtle changes they're seeing.
One subtle sign of change can be seen on Lake Superior after an unheard of algae bloom occurred in 2021.
"Lake Superior is one of the fastest changing warming bodies of freshwater on the planet," said Augustyniak. "When we talk about the impacts of that warming, we are taking about loss of food for fish, loss of fish habitat and, unfortunately, water quality concerns."
Even a change of a degree or two can have a dramatic impact on fish, even resulting in fish kills.
Simon Tye Ph.D, a wildlife biologist, has been studying climate change and fish die-offs in Minnesota and Wisconsin. During Tye's research, he found that from 2003 to 2013, there were 500 documented fish die-off events, averaging around eight a year. Tye believes if we continue on our current path, we could see 50 events per year.
Kenny Blumenfeld, a senior climatologist with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, is closely monitoring the state as it sees warmer seasons, like winter and summer.
"Another really important change that Minnesota has experienced is increases in precipitation, on average, and especially increases in extreme precipitation," said Blumenfeld. "And that means rain, or snow, we've had increases in the extremes of both."
Professional angler Joel Nelson tells us the future of cold water species In Minnesota like trout, walleye and eelpout are in jeopardy
While, pan fish and bass, which do well in warmer water, are doing better for now. Experts told us change is a natural part of evolution, but the problem all the experts told WCCO is that the warming is happening too fast.
"If you value those days in the Boundary Waters fishing for lake trout, or northern Minnesota trip to the cabin to catch walleyes, those days might be less than the future," said Dean Paron, a stream habitat supervisor for the Minnesota DNR. "I think it's important that we also consider our children and grandchildren, what what are we leaving them for recreation?"
Talking Points airs every Wednesday and Thursday at 6:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., live on CBS News Minnesota.
