Posts Tagged 'policy'

« Previous Entries
Next Entries »

Assessing synergies and trade-offs of diverging Paris-compliant mitigation strategies with long-term SDG objectives

Published 24 March 2023 Science Closed
Tags: ,

Highlights

  • The Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are interlinked.
  • Mitigation strategies chosen will affect how SDGs interact.
  • Technological and nature-based mitigation pathways increase resource consumption.
  • Mitigation strategies relying on behavioural changes limit potential SDG trade-offs.
  • Anticipating interdependences supports the design of SDG and Paris-compatible policies.

Abstract

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement are the two transformative agendas, which set the benchmarks for nations to address urgent social, economic and environmental challenges. Aside from setting long-term goals, the pathways followed by nations will involve a series of synergies and trade-offs both between and within these agendas. Since it will not be possible to optimise across the 17 SDGs while simultaneously transitioning to low-carbon societies, it will be necessary to implement policies to address the most critical aspects of the agendas and understand the implications for the other dimensions. Here, we rely on a modelling exercise to analyse the long-term implications of a variety of Paris-compliant mitigation strategies suggested in the recent scientific literature on multiple dimensions of the SDG Agenda. The strategies included rely on technological solutions such as renewable energy deployment or carbon capture and storage, nature-based solutions such as afforestation and behavioural changes in the demand side. Results for a selection of energy-environment SDGs suggest that some mitigation pathways could have negative implications on food and water prices, forest cover and increase pressure on water resources depending on the strategy followed, while renewable energy shares, household energy costs, ambient air pollution and yield impacts could be improved simultaneously while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Overall, results indicate that promoting changes in the demand side could be beneficial to limit potential trade-offs.

Continue reading ‘Assessing synergies and trade-offs of diverging Paris-compliant mitigation strategies with long-term SDG objectives’

Ocean acidification as a governance challenge in the Mediterranean Sea: impacts from aquaculture and fisheries

Published 21 March 2023 Science Closed
Tags: , , ,

Despite the progress in the international and regional governance efforts at the level of climate change, ocean acidification (OA) remains a global problem with profoundly negative environmental, social, and economical consequences. This requires extensive mitigation and adaptation effective strategies that are hindered by current shortcomings of governance. This multidisciplinary chapter investigates the risks of ocean acidification (OA) for aquaculture and fisheries in the Mediterranean Sea and its sub-basins and the role of regional adaptive governance to tackle the problem. The identified risks are based on the biological sensitivities of the most important aquaculture species and biogenic habitats and their exposure to the current and future predicted (2100) RCP 8.5 conditions. To link OA exposure and biological sensitivity, we produced spatially resolved and depth-related pH and aragonite saturation state exposure maps and overlaid these with the existing aquaculture industry in the coastal waters of the Mediterranean basin to demonstrate potential risk for the aquaculture in the future. We also identified fisheries’ vulnerability through the indirect effects of OA on highly sensitive biogenic habitats that serve as nursery and spawning areas, showing that some of the biogenic habitats are already affected locally under existing OA conditions and will be more severely impacted across the entire Mediterranean basin under 2100 scenarios. This provided a regional vulnerability assessment of OA hotspots, risks and gaps that created the baseline for discussing the importance of adaptive governance and recommendations for future OA mitigation/adaptation strategies. By understanding the risks under future OA scenarios and reinforcing the adaptability of the governance system at the science-policy interface, best informed, “situated” management response capability can be optimised to sustain ecosystem services.

Continue reading ‘Ocean acidification as a governance challenge in the Mediterranean Sea: impacts from aquaculture and fisheries’

Oregon shellfish farmers: perceptions of stressors, adaptive strategies, and policy linkages

Published 3 February 2023 Science Closed
Tags: , , ,

Highlights

  • Interviews were conducted with fifteen (79%) of oyster farmers in Oregon.
  • Farmers are most impacted by environmental, economic, and regulatory stressors.
  • Shellfish farmers had matching adaptive strategies to address these stressors.
  • Flexible aquaculture policies can help support these strategies.

Abstract

In the United States, domestic oyster aquaculture production is insufficient to meet national demand, thus creating a reliance on international oyster imports for consumption. West coast shellfish farmers are threatened by climate change, including ocean acidification as well as socioeconomic challenges such as labor availability. To expand and enhance United States oyster production, and support domestic food security and livelihoods, a better understanding of the limitations that oyster farmers’ experience, and corresponding pathways forward for adaptation is needed. Through semi-structured interviews conducted with commercial Oregon shellfish farmers, we assess the environmental, economic, social and regulatory stressors impacting oyster growing operations, and the corresponding adaptive strategies employed or envisioned by aquaculture farmers. We find farmers are most impacted by environmental stressors (nuisance species that interact with oysters or oyster habitat negatively), followed by regulatory and economic stressors (permitting and regulations and labor availability). Farmers perceived ocean acidification as a risk, but primarily at the oyster larva stage rather than the juvenile or adult grow-out stage. Examples of farmer-identified adaptive strategies included streamlining permitting and regulations, incentivizing employee retention, and having flexibility in culture type to avoid nuisance species and other environmental stressors. An increase in targeted outreach related to aquaculture policies and engagement with industry, scientists, managers, and policy-makers could facilitate policies that support these and other adaptive strategies.

Continue reading ‘Oregon shellfish farmers: perceptions of stressors, adaptive strategies, and policy linkages’

Global ocean governance in the Anthropocene: from extractive imaginaries to planetary boundaries?

Published 23 December 2022 Science Closed
Tags: ,

Abstract

As with other fields of international law addressing human-nature relations, the Anthropocene invites the reappraisal and reimagining of the law of the sea, the primary normative framework through which states regulate access to, and the use of, the global ocean. The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) effected a major shift in global ocean governance towards a public order of the seas. However, the law of the sea remains substantially tethered to a Holocene conception of the ocean as a stable environmental domain of extractive exploitation and jurisdictional demarcation. This is illustrated by the confined scope of negotiations on a new implementing agreement under UNCLOS on the conservation and use of marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction. Additionally, there has been limited acknowledgment of the multiple sites at which ocean governance in the Anthropocene takes place, in particular the central role of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. It is contended that one way forward for addressing both these conceptual constraints and the UNCLOS and UNFCCC regime coordination challenges is the adoption of global ocean governance goals informed by the ‘Planetary Boundaries’ framework.

Policy Implications

  • There is limited acknowledgment within global governance regimes that the global ocean is undergoing rapid transformation in the Anthropocene as a result of climate change and ocean acidification.
  • The contemporary framework for global ocean governance remains strongly influenced by a conception of the ocean as a domain primarily for resource extraction.
  • Planetary-scale change to the global ocean calls into question the role and efficacy of existing ocean governance norms and institutions.
  • Governments and civil society actors seeking to advance effective ocean management approaches in the Anthropocene need to utilise the multiple forums in which global ocean governance takes place, including the climate treaty regime.
  • The Planetary Boundaries approach offers a potential way forward for improving the coordination between ocean-relevant governance regimes, and for providing global policy goals for ocean protection.
Continue reading ‘Global ocean governance in the Anthropocene: from extractive imaginaries to planetary boundaries?’

Assessing the future carbon budget through the lens of policy-driven acidification and temperature targets

Published 21 November 2022 Science Closed
Tags: , , , ,

Basing a future carbon budget on warming targets is subject to uncertainty due to uncertainty in the relationship between carbon emissions and warming, and may not prevent dangerous change throughout the entire climate system. Here, we use a climate emulator to constrain a future carbon budget that is more representative by using a combination of both warming and ocean acidification targets. The warming targets considered are the Paris Agreement targets of 1.5 and 2°C; the acidification targets are -0.17 and -0.21 pH units informed by aragonite saturation states. Considering acidification targets in conjunction with warming targets is found to narrow the uncertainty in the future carbon budget, especially in situations where the acidification target is more stringent than, or of similar stringency to, the warming target. Considering a strict combination of the two more stringent targets (both targets of 1.5°C warming and -0.17 acidification must be met), the carbon budget ranges from -74.0 to 129.8PgC. This reduces uncertainty in the carbon budget from 286.2PgC to 203.8PgC (29%). Assuming an emissions rate held constant since 2021 (which is a conservative assumption), the budget towards both targets was either spent by 2019, or will be spent by 2026.

Continue reading ‘Assessing the future carbon budget through the lens of policy-driven acidification and temperature targets’

Ocean acidification research for sustainability: co-designing global action on local scales

Published 19 September 2022 Science Closed
Tags: ,

The global threat that ocean acidification poses to marine ecosystems has been recognized by the UN 2030 Agenda under Sustainable Development Goal, Target 14.3: to reduce ocean acidification. The Global Ocean Acidification Observing Network (GOA-ON) is a collaborative international network to detect and understand the drivers of ocean acidification in estuarine-coastal-open ocean environments, the resulting impacts on marine ecosystems, and to make the information available to optimize modelling studies. The Ocean Acidification Research for Sustainability (OARS) programme, endorsed by the 2021–2030 UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, will build on the work of GOA-ON through its seven Decade Action Outcomes. By employing a Theory of Change framework, and with the co-design of science in mind, OARS will develop an implementation plan for each Decade Action Outcome, which will identify the stakeholders and rights-holders, as well as the tools, means, and positive consequences required for their successful delivery. The organizational structure of GOA-ON, with nine regional hubs, will benefit OARS by providing a vital connection between local and global scales. GOA-ON regional hub case-studies illustrate how activities in the past and future, informed by global and regional priorities, support capacity building and the co-design of ocean acidification science.

Continue reading ‘Ocean acidification research for sustainability: co-designing global action on local scales‘

Vulnerability of exploited deep-sea demersal species to ocean warming, deoxygenation, and acidification

Published 19 September 2022 Science Closed
Tags: , , , , , , ,

Vulnerability of marine species to climate change (including ocean acidification, deoxygenation, and associated changes in food supply) depends on species’ ecological and biological characteristics. Most existing assessments focus on coastal species but systematic analysis of climate vulnerability for the deep sea is lacking. Here, we combine a fuzzy logic expert system with species biogeographical data to assess the risks of climate impacts to the population viability of 32 species of exploited demersal deep-sea species across the global ocean. Climatic hazards are projected to emerge from historical variabilities in all the recorded habitats of the studied species by the mid-twenty-first century. Species that are both at very high risk of climate impacts and highly vulnerable to fishing include Antarctic toothfish (Dissostichus mawsoni), rose fish (Sebastes norvegicus), roughhead grenadier (Macrourus berglax), Baird’s slickhead (Alepocephalus bairdii), cusk (Brosme brosme), and Portuguese dogfish (Centroscymnus coelepis). Most exploited deep-sea fishes are likely to be at higher risk of local, or even global, extinction than previously assessed because of their high vulnerability to both climate change and fishing. Spatially, a high concentration of deep-sea species that are climate vulnerable is predicted in the northern Atlantic Ocean and the Indo-Pacific region. Aligning carbon mitigation with improved fisheries management offers opportunities for overall risk reduction in the coming decades. Regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) have an obligation to incorporate climate change in their deliberations. In addition, deep-sea areas that are not currently managed by RFMOs should be included in existing or new international governance institutions or arrangements.

Continue reading ‘Vulnerability of exploited deep-sea demersal species to ocean warming, deoxygenation, and acidification’

Stability of coral reef islands and associated legal maritime zones in a changing ocean

Published 31 August 2022 Science Closed
Tags: , , ,

Coral reef islands can support large legal maritime zones (i.e., ocean spaces where States have rights and responsibilities) and are of international and geopolitical importance. This review focuses on low-lying coral reef islands supplied with sediments derived from skeletons and shells of calcifying organisms. For coral islands, the outer ‘low-water line’ of the reef can be used as the legal ‘baseline’ to establish maritime zones. Coral islands and the reefs that support them are experiencing the effects of rising and warming seas, increased storminess and ocean acidification. Coral reefs, their islands and associated maritime zones support millions of people, including those in Small Island Developing States (SIDS). SIDS communities are arguably the least responsible for climate change but are at the forefront of its impacts so ensuring their continued wellbeing is a global responsibility. Securing the future of coral reefs and islands is dependent on reducing global climate threats and emissions, improving local management, and investing in restoration and adaption research. It is uncertain if coral islands will persist into the future, and on what timelines. This raises questions such as, where coral islands support maritime zones, what are the legal implications of island instability or loss? This review focuses on the bio-physical interactions of coral islands and associated reefs in the face of changing climates, and implications for legal maritime zones and SIDS.

Continue reading ‘Stability of coral reef islands and associated legal maritime zones in a changing ocean’

Toward a decade of ocean science for sustainable development through acoustic animal tracking

Published 19 August 2022 Science Closed
Tags: , , ,

The ocean is a key component of the Earth’s dynamics, providing a great variety of ecosystem services to humans. Yet, human activities are globally changing its structure and major components, including marine biodiversity. In this context, the United Nations has proclaimed a Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development to tackle the scientific challenges necessary for a sustainable use of the ocean by means of the Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG14). Here, we review how Acoustic animal Tracking, a widely distributed methodology of tracking marine biodiversity with electronic devices, can provide a roadmap for implementing the major Actions to achieve the SDG14. We show that acoustic tracking can be used to reduce and monitor the effects of marine pollution including noise, light, and plastic pollution. Acoustic tracking can be effectively used to monitor the responses of marine biodiversity to human-made infrastructures and habitat restoration, as well as to determine the effects of hypoxia, ocean warming, and acidification. Acoustic tracking has been historically used to inform fisheries management, the design of marine protected areas, and the detection of essential habitats, rendering this technique particularly attractive to achieve the sustainable fishing and spatial protection target goals of the SDG14. Finally, acoustic tracking can contribute to end illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing by providing tools to monitor marine biodiversity against poachers and promote the development of Small Islands Developing States and developing countries. To fully benefit from acoustic tracking supporting the SDG14 Targets, trans-boundary collaborative efforts through tracking networks are required to promote ocean information sharing and ocean literacy. We therefore propose acoustic tracking and tracking networks as relevant contributors to tackle the scientific challenges that are necessary for a sustainable use of the ocean promoted by the United Nations.

Continue reading ‘Toward a decade of ocean science for sustainable development through acoustic animal tracking’

A comparison of mixed logit and latent class models to estimate market segments for seafood faced with ocean acidification

Published 12 August 2022 Science Closed
Tags: ,

This study uses a choice experiment to characterize market segments (consumer preferences heterogeneity) based on three attributes of seafood (mussels) that are affected by ocean acidification: shell appearance, meat color, and nutritional composition. Using a sample of 1,257 individuals from two main cities in Chile, we estimate both the Mixed Logit model and the Latent Class model. We use the individual-specific posterior (ISP) parameters’ distribution to categorize consumers’ heterogeneity based on the signs and intensity (i.e., like or dislike dimension) of these ISPs. We compare the pattern of preferences and whether people are classified within the same preference pattern in both models. In general, we observed that the models identify a different number of segments with various patterns of preferences. Moreover, the models classify the same people into different groups. Since the segmentation is sensitive to the chosen model, we discuss strengths, inconsistencies, biases, and best practices regarding methodological approaches to establishing market segments in choice experiments and future ocean acidification conditions.

Continue reading ‘A comparison of mixed logit and latent class models to estimate market segments for seafood faced with ocean acidification’

SDG-14: life below water

Published 25 July 2022 Science Closed
Tags: , ,

Global systems and processes that assure the supply of rainwater, drinking water and oxygen are regulated by oceanic temperature chemistry, currents and life. Pollution, diminished fisheries and the loss of coastal habitats all have negative impacts on the ocean’s sustainability. Such activities have severely impacted around 40% of the world’s oceans. SDG-14, Life Below Water, aims to conserve marine ecosystems by establishing regulations for removing pollutants from the sea, decreasing sea acidification and regulating the fishing sector to ensure sustainable fishing. As a result, the major incentive for this goal is to protect and utilise marine ecosystem services sustainably. This chapter presents the business models of 36 companies and use cases that employ emerging technologies and create value in SDG-14. We should highlight that one use case can be related to more than one SDG and it can make use of multiple emerging technologies.

Continue reading ‘SDG-14: life below water’

A global horizon scan of issues impacting marine and coastal biodiversity conservation

Published 12 July 2022 Science Closed
Tags: , , , , , ,

The biodiversity of marine and coastal habitats is experiencing unprecedented change. While there are well-known drivers of these changes, such as overexploitation, climate change and pollution, there are also relatively unknown emerging issues that are poorly understood or recognized that have potentially positive or negative impacts on marine and coastal ecosystems. In this inaugural Marine and Coastal Horizon Scan, we brought together 30 scientists, policymakers and practitioners with transdisciplinary expertise in marine and coastal systems to identify new issues that are likely to have a significant impact on the functioning and conservation of marine and coastal biodiversity over the next 5–10 years. Based on a modified Delphi voting process, the final 15 issues presented were distilled from a list of 75 submitted by participants at the start of the process. These issues are grouped into three categories: ecosystem impacts, for example the impact of wildfires and the effect of poleward migration on equatorial biodiversity; resource exploitation, including an increase in the trade of fish swim bladders and increased exploitation of marine collagens; and new technologies, such as soft robotics and new biodegradable products. Our early identification of these issues and their potential impacts on marine and coastal biodiversity will support scientists, conservationists, resource managers and policymakers to address the challenges facing marine ecosystems.

Continue reading ‘A global horizon scan of issues impacting marine and coastal biodiversity conservation’

Sustainable development of climate-resilient aquaculture and culture-based fisheries through adaptation of abiotic stresses: a review

Published 28 June 2022 Science Closed
Tags: , , ,

Climate change is an inevitable event that obstructs the output of aquaculture farms and culture-based fisheries in open waters. It poses a serious threat to global food security, altering biodiversity, ecosystems, and global fish output by displacing fish stocks from their natural habitats. When compared to freshwater aquaculture, marine/coastal aquaculture is more affected. To combat the effects of climate change, several mitigation methods and adaptations are being implemented, emphasizing future demands of affordable protein. Selective breeding, species diversification, and aquaculture systems like integrated multi-trophic aquaculture, aquaponics, and recirculating aquaculture system are some of the most widely accepted and adapted solutions. Further research on intervention in seed and feed in terms of quality improvement, bioresource utilization, and technological and genetic improvement is required. Climate change policies from the government are also essential. The present study differs from previous reviews by portraying the various abiotic stress factors contributing to the drastic climate change, encompassing adaptation strategies followed in distinct aquaculture sources such as freshwater, inland saline water, brackish water, coastal waters, and culture-based capture fisheries with its future implications.

Continue reading ‘Sustainable development of climate-resilient aquaculture and culture-based fisheries through adaptation of abiotic stresses: a review’

The legal implications of ocean acidification: beyond the climate change regime

Published 3 June 2022 Science Closed
Tags: , ,

This chapter explicates the important relations between the oceans, biodiversity and climate regimes, in the process especially highlighting the legal connections. Due to emissions of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels, changes in ocean chemistry are occurring at an accelerating rate. In particular, as the oceans absorb that carbon, they become acidic; today they are almost one-third more acidic than they were 200 years ago. Impacts on marine organisms and ecosystems are increasingly apparent, ranging from adverse effects on plankton to reductions in shellfish harvests. This chapter argues that ocean acidification is creating specific new challenges for international law. While extant multilateral environmental agreements can serve as the basis for marine governance in this context, it is still unclear which should take the lead and what kind of new rules will need to be agreed upon to do so effectively. An obvious issue is that the cause of this problem – carbon emissions governed by the climate change regime – and the impacts – acidification of oceans and seas – are the subjects of different regimes. Drawing on the experience of the Convention on Biological Diversity, this chapter points to avenues for strengthening the oceans and climate regimes so that they can effectively respond to acidification.

Continue reading ‘The legal implications of ocean acidification: beyond the climate change regime’

California shellfish farmers: perceptions of changing ocean conditions and strategies for adaptive capacity

Published 19 May 2022 Science Closed
Tags: , , , ,

Highlights

  • Shellfish growers were interviewed about their experiences with environmental change.
  • Growers expressed concerns about multiple observed environmental changes.
  • Growers identified seventeen adaptive strategies.
  • Strategies can be categorized as policy/networking, farm management, and science.

Abstract

Coastal communities along the U.S. West Coast experience a myriad of environmental stressors, including exposure to low pH waters exacerbated by ocean acidification (OA). This can result in ecological and social consequences, making necessary the exploration and support for locally relevant strategies to adapt to OA and other environmental changes. The shellfish aquaculture industry along the West Coast is particularly vulnerable to OA, given the negative effects of low pH on shellfish survival and growth. As such, the social-ecological system exemplified by this industry serves as an opportunity to identify and address strategies for local adaptation. Through interviews conducted with West Coast shellfish farm owners and managers (‘growers’), we investigate perceptions of OA and environmental change and identify specific strategies for adaptation. We find that growers are concerned about OA, among many other environmental stressors such as marine pathogens and water temperature. However, growers are often unable to attribute changes in shellfish survival or health to these environmental factors due to a lack of data and the resources and network required to acquire and interpret these data. From these interviews, we identify a list of adaptive strategies growers employ or would like to employ to improve their overall adaptive capacity to multiple stressors (environmental, economic, political), which together, allow farms to weather periods of OA-induced stress more effectively. Very few studies to date have identified specific adaptive strategies derived directly from the communities being impacted. This work therefore fills a gap in the literature on adaptive capacity by amplifying the voices of those on the front lines of climate change and identifying explicit pathways for adaptation.

Continue reading ‘California shellfish farmers: perceptions of changing ocean conditions and strategies for adaptive capacity’

Ocean futures for the world’s largest yellowfin tuna population under the combined effects of ocean warming and acidification

Published 28 April 2022 Science Closed
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

The impacts of climate change are expected to have profound effects on the fisheries of the Pacific Ocean, including its tuna fisheries, the largest globally. This study examined the combined effects of climate change on the yellowfin tuna population using the ecosystem model SEAPODYM. Yellowfin tuna fisheries in the Pacific contribute significantly to the economies and food security of Pacific Island Countries and Territories and Oceania. We use an ensemble of earth climate models to project yellowfin populations under a high greenhouse gas emissions (IPCC RCP8.5) scenario, which includes, the combined effects of a warming ocean, increasing acidification and changing ocean chemistry. Our results suggest that the acidification impact will be smaller in comparison to the ocean warming impact, even in the most extreme ensemble member scenario explored, but will have additional influences on yellowfin tuna population dynamics. An eastward shift in the distribution of yellowfin tuna was observed in the projections in the model ensemble in the absence of explicitly accounting for changes in acidification. The extent of this shift did not substantially differ when the three-acidification induced larval mortality scenarios were included in the ensemble; however, acidification was projected to weaken the magnitude of the increase in abundance in the eastern Pacific. Together with intensive fishing, these potential changes are likely to challenge the global fishing industry as well as the economies and food systems of many small Pacific Island Countries and Territories. The modelling framework applied in this study provides a tool for evaluating such effects and informing policy development.

Continue reading ‘Ocean futures for the world’s largest yellowfin tuna population under the combined effects of ocean warming and acidification’

Fisheries surveys are essential ocean observing programs in a time of global change: a synthesis of oceanographic and ecological data from U.S. West Coast fisheries surveys

Published 31 March 2022 Science Closed
Tags: , ,

As climate change and other anthropogenic impacts on marine ecosystems accelerate in the 21st century, there is an increasing need for sustained ocean time series. A robust and collaborative network of regional monitoring programs can detect early signs of unanticipated changes, provide a more holistic understanding of ecosystem responses, and prompt faster management actions. Fisheries-related surveys that collect fisheries-independent data (hereafter referred to as “fisheries surveys”) are a key pillar of sustainable fisheries management and are ubiquitous in the United States and other countries. From the perspective of ocean observing, fisheries surveys offer three key strengths: (1) they are sustained due to largely consistent funding support from federal and state public sector fisheries agencies, (2) they collect paired physical, chemical, and biological data, and (3) they have large and frequently overlapping spatial footprints that extend into the offshore region. Despite this, information about fisheries survey data collection can remain poorly known to the broader academic and ocean observing communities. During the 2019 CalCOFI Symposium, marking the 70th anniversary of the California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI), representatives from 21 ocean monitoring programs on the North American West Coast came together to share the status of their monitoring programs and examine opportunities to leverage efforts to support regional ecosystem management needs. To increase awareness about collected ocean observing data, we catalog these ongoing ocean time series programs and detail the activities of the nine major federal or state fisheries surveys on the U.S. West Coast. We then present three case studies showing how fisheries survey data contribute to the understanding of emergent ecosystem management challenges: marine heatwaves, ocean acidification, and contaminant spills. Moving forward, increased cross-survey analyses and cooperation can improve regional capacity to address emerging challenges. Fisheries surveys represent a foundational blueprint for ecosystem monitoring. As the international community moves toward a global strategy for ocean observing needs, fisheries survey programs should be included as data contributors.

Continue reading ‘Fisheries surveys are essential ocean observing programs in a time of global change: a synthesis of oceanographic and ecological data from U.S. West Coast fisheries surveys’

Climate vulnerability assessment of key fishery resources in the Northern Humboldt Current System

Published 29 March 2022 Science Closed
Tags: , , ,

The Northern Humboldt Current System sustains one of the most productive fisheries in the world. However, climate change is anticipated to negatively affect fish production in this region over the next few decades, and detailed analyses for many fishery resources are unavailable. We implemented a trait-based Climate Vulnerability Assessment based on expert elicitation to estimate the relative vulnerability of 28 fishery resources (benthic, demersal, and pelagic) to the impacts of climate change by 2055; ten exposure factors (e.g., temperature, salinity, pH, chlorophyll) and 13 sensitivity attributes (biological and population-level traits) were used. Nearly 36% of the species assessed had “high” or “very high” vulnerability. Benthic species were ranked the most vulnerable (gastropod and bivalve species). The pelagic group was the second most vulnerable; the Pacific chub mackerel and the yellowfin tuna were amongst the most vulnerable pelagic species. The demersal group had the relatively lowest vulnerability. This study allowed identification of vulnerable fishery resources, research and monitoring priorities, and identification of the key exposure factors and sensitivity attributes which are driving that vulnerability. Our findings can help fishery managers incorporate climate change into harvest level and allocation decisions, and assist stakeholders plan for and adapt to a changing future.

Continue reading ‘Climate vulnerability assessment of key fishery resources in the Northern Humboldt Current System’

The Patagonian fisheries over time: facts and lessons to be learned to face global change

Published 29 March 2022 Science Closed
Tags: , , ,

Environmental and anthropic stressors have triggered unprecedented effects on the marine ecosystem. The global increase of marine temperature and acidification caused changes in fish availability and thus catches worldwide. Fostered by a legal framework favoring the investment in extractive capacity, industrial fishing in Atlantic Patagonia grew markedly since the 1960s, leading to the overexploitation of certain stocks. Nowadays, the regulatory system of individual transferable quotas is enforced for hake, but most resources in Patagonia continue being managed under an olympic system lacking planning for sustainability. We analyzed the vulnerability of the Patagonian fisheries to environmental (water temperature and acidification) and human stressors (overexploitation and market forces) in terms of their exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. Most of the Patagonian fisheries have operated in a scenario of low exposure to climate change. The shellfisheries, however, exhibited the highest sensitivity, as well as the lowest adaptive capacity, to acidification. Regarding the anthropic stressors, both the king crab and shrimp fisheries scored highly sensitive to overexploitation and market forces. Finally, the fisheries targeting the king crab and the Bonaerense demersal fish assemblage evidenced the lowest adaptive capacity against market forces. We propose management options for each case within the context of the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries.

Continue reading ‘The Patagonian fisheries over time: facts and lessons to be learned to face global change’

Using macroalgae to address UN Sustainable Development goals through CO2 remediation and improvement of the aquaculture environment

Published 18 March 2022 Science Closed
Tags: , , , , ,

Among efforts to explore ways to achieve carbon neutrality globally or regionally, photosynthetic carbon sequestration by algae has been identified as having immense potential. Algae play a crucial role in providing the base of aquatic ecosystems, driving important biogeochemical cycles in oceans and freshwaters and, in so doing, act as a critical component for CO2 drawdown from the atmosphere and ameliorating global change. Furthermore, algae are used extensively in some societies as a source of food and have potential as feedstock for biofuels and as sources of bioactive chemicals. Such activities align strongly with a number of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Here we discuss how marine macroalgae might contribute to several of these goals by exploring their potential to enhance aquaculture, contribute to “Blue Carbon” drawdown of CO2 to ameliorate climate change (UN SDGs 13,14) and provide biomass as feedstock for biofuels (UN SDG 7) to reduce reliance on fossil fuel combustion. Though further work is required, we suggest that farming macroalgae in air has great potential for mitigation of CO2 emissions and improvement of aquaculture environments.

Summary: Photosynthetic activity of macroalgae, in addition to driving biosynthesis and biomass accumulation, can cause arise in pH due to CO2 depletion/HCO3–. This can buffer the pH decrease associated with anthropogenic CO2 increases and ameliorate the effects of ocean acidification. Though increasing in magnitude, macroalgal aquaculture still represents only asmall fraction of the Cdrawdown by wild macroalgae populations and currently accounts for drawdown of an even lower fraction of global CO2 emissions. Nonetheless, scaling up of intensive macroalgal aquaculture could be one approach to contribute more to ameliorating anthropogenic CO2 emissions and ocean acidification. Modification of IMTA involving growth of the algae in air rather than in seawater could prove auseful means to help stabilize fluctuations in oxygen and pH in aquaculture operations.

Continue reading ‘Using macroalgae to address UN Sustainable Development goals through CO2 remediation and improvement of the aquaculture environment’

Subscribe

Search

  • Reset

OA-ICC Highlights

Resources