Impact of warmer seas on fish stocks leads to rise in pirate attacks

Study of piracy hotspots in east Africa and South China Sea found that piracy increases when fish populations decline and vice versa

Dwindling fish stocks caused by the climate crisis are leading to an increase in pirate attacks, according to a new study looking at two piracy hotspots over the past two decades.

Warmer seas have negatively affected fisheries in east Africa, one of the world’s worst areas for piracy; while in the South China Sea, another hotspot for attacks, it has had the opposite effect: fish populations have risen.