NOAA Fisheries Updates Report on Current Conditions of the Northeast U.S. Shelf Ecosystem

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By NOAA Fisheries

NOTE: This is a biannual report published by NOAA Fisheries. It was last updated this report on 10/27/22 and reflects document sea surface temperature trends, chlorophyll concentrations, fish distributions, etc. conditions in 2021 and early 2022. 

Introduction

Current Conditions is a biannual report on ecosystem and fisheries data for the Northeast U.S. continental shelf ecosystem. The report includes measurements of temperature and salinity indicators of seasonal warming and cooling patterns. We derive indicators describing phytoplankton distribution and blooms from satellite remote sensing data. Northeast Fisheries Science Center bottom trawl surveys provide upper trophic level indicators of fish and macroinvertebrate habitat and distribution dynamics.

Note that some data elements usually reported in Current Conditions are not available for this report, as some of our surveys did not occur as planned. This would include bottom temperature, surface and bottom salinity, and modeling data related to fish distribution and habitat.

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Summary

  • During the last half of 2021, sea surface temperatures in the Northeast U.S. Shelf Ecosystem continued to be above average following a shift in thermal conditions that began around 2010. For some data series, temperature was at its highest level measured.
  • Fall phytoplankton blooms were generally below average with the exception of Georges Bank, which had a large late-season bloom.
  • The fall thermal transition continues to shift to progressively later in the year, raising concern over the timing of production cycles in the food web.

Temperature

Daily Sea Surface Temperature for the Last Half of the Year

Daily sea surface temperatures were at or generally above average conditions during the last half of 2021. The Georges Bank, Gulf of Maine, and Scotian Shelf ecoregions had the largest departures from average conditions where mid-summer temperatures were approximately 3°C above the average. In the Middle Atlantic Bight ecoregion, temperatures fluctuated around one standard deviation above the mean. In all areas, temperatures tended to moderate toward the mean by the end of the year.

Graphs showing the daily sea surface temperatures for all years between 1982 and 2021 for the last six months of the year. Top Row: Middle Atlantic Bight and Georges Bank. Bottom Row: Gulf of Maine and Scotian Shelf. The Georges Bank, Gulf of Maine, and Scotian Shelf ecoregions had the largest departures from average conditions where mid-summer temperatures were approximately 3°C above the average. In the Middle Atlantic Bight ecoregion, temperatures fluctuated around one standard deviation above the mean.
The 2021 (red) daily sea surface temperature compared to temperatures from 1982 through 2020 (transparent blue). The dotted lines represent the plus/minus one standard deviation from the 1982–2020 time series mean (black line).

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NOAA's Report on the long-term (1852 to 2021) mean sea surface temperature in the Northeast for the last six months of each year. The red lines show the linear trend, the titles indicate the trend’s significance, and the blue lines represent change points.