Where in The World Can Aquaculture Best Deliver for Nature and People?

The first ever global spatial guidance for potential\r\nsustainable shellfish and seaweed farming has been published, authored by\r\nscientists from The Nature\r\nConservancy and the US National\r\nOceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Contrary to certain viewpoints, a growing body of evidence\r\nindicates that commercial shellfish and seaweed aquaculture – when done well –\r\ncan actually have a positive effect on the surrounding environment, by removing\r\nnutrients from polluted water bodies and providing habitat for commercially\r\nimportant fish and invertebrates, while also providing food and jobs.

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and partners have just\r\npublished a new analysis in the scientific journal PLOS One that\r\nidentifies the highest-opportunity regions around the world for the development\r\nof commercial shellfish and seaweed aquaculture to aid in ocean ecosystem\r\nrecovery, while providing economic and social benefit.

The study is the first of its kind in examining the global\r\npotential for this concept – which we like to refer to as “restorative\r\naquaculture”. The collaboration is between scientists at TNC, NOAA’s National Ocean Service National\r\nCenters for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) and the University of Adelaide, Australia. It\r\nbrings together global-scale spatial datasets representing key environmental,\r\nsocioeconomic and human health considerations.

The potential benefits of restorative aquaculture are being\r\nexplored by researchers from the US and Australia

The study focuses on where governments, international\r\ndevelopment organisations and investors should prioritise new efforts to drive\r\nchanges in public policy, capacity-building and business planning to realise\r\nthe full ecological and socio-economic potential of restorative shellfish and\r\nseaweed aquaculture.

We found that the top 10 highest-opportunity regions for\r\nshellfish aquaculture development are centred in Europe, Oceania and North\r\nAmerica, while the highest for seaweed aquaculture centred in Europe, Asia,\r\nOceania and South America.

Europe’s North Sea marine ecoregion was consistently\r\nidentified as the highest-opportunity marine ecoregion for restorative\r\nshellfish and seaweed aquaculture development. The region’s coastal waters\r\nsuffer some of the world’s most substantial nutrient pollution, wide scale loss\r\nof shellfish reefs and significant fishing pressures. This analysis shows that\r\ncommercial seaweed and shellfish farming could help to address some of the\r\npressing ecological challenges in this and other high-opportunity marine ecoregions.

Some identified high-opportunity marine ecoregions, such as\r\nthe East China Sea, are already home to robust shellfish and seaweed\r\naquaculture industries. In such cases, the evidence suggests that reform or\r\nmodifications in aquaculture practices could improve or optimise the ecological\r\nbenefits generated by these existing farms.

Other high-opportunity regions, such as the Southern\r\nCalifornia Bight, currently have limited or virtually no existing bivalve and\r\nseaweed aquaculture operations and could benefit environmentally and\r\neconomically from their development. And others, like north-eastern New\r\nZealand, have an active shellfish aquaculture industry, but do not have an\r\nestablished seaweed aquaculture industry, which could help provide additional\r\necological function.

In regions where funds to support traditional\r\ncoastal-ecosystem restoration efforts are limited – particularly within low- or\r\nlower-middle-income nations – the development of shellfish and seaweed\r\naquaculture sectors could also present a significant opportunity to aid\r\ncoastal-ecosystem recovery efforts and economic development.

The ultimate findings of the study reveal that there are\r\nmarine ecoregions within all inhabited\r\ncontinents that have significant potential for shellfish and\r\nseaweed aquaculture to provide benefits to both ecosystems and people. The\r\nopportunity for restorative aquaculture is truly global, in other words – a\r\nprospect that will excite and energise individuals and organisations across\r\nthis fast-moving sector.

Source : The Fish Site

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