Based on summer trawls surveys along the West Greenland coast and shelf, the spatiotemporal
variation in the demersal fish community was quantified between 1993 and 2016. A
substantial change was observed with 4 to 10-fold increase in total biomass, increase in the
average size of specimens and an increase in the average trophic level in net hauls. Findings
suggest a substantial quantitative and qualitative change in the importance of demersal fish for
the coastal food web with likely cascading effect to trophic levels below and above. Based on
near-bottom temperature measured on the trawl gear we identify slight warming trends in the
northern region and in the two deepest depth strata (200-600 m).

When compared to decadal variability based on CTD data from available data bases we find that the recent warming trend is not outside the range of a previous “warm period” in the 1930s underlining the importance of identifying decadal variability in climate. Decreasing fish mortality from shrimp by-catch
contributed to improved mitigation practice combined with decreased fishing effort is
identified as a major driving factor. However, it coincides with atmospheric warming and
consequently reduction in sea ice concentration and increased summer run-off from the
Greenland Ice Sheet, which improve light and nutrient for primary production. Thus, it is an
important example of how recovery from over-exploitation may be shaped by climate change.