Presenting his findings at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Chicago, researcher William Cheung said that fish will migrate northward more than 25 miles per decade over the next 50 years in response to global warming.
The University of East Anglia lecturer in marine ecosystem services told the gathering that while fishermen in the tropics will see a reduction in their catches over that time, those in Alaska, Greenland and the Nordic nations will benefit from more fish.
He predicts that some cold-water species could die off because there will be no colder waters to escape the warming.
A team led by University of Alaska researcher Rolf Gradinger has found evidence that at least three species have already extended their range northward by up to 300 miles.
They discovered snow crab north of the Bering Strait in the Chukchi Sea for the first time on record.