A new study has shown that many of the world’s largest aquatic food producers are highly vulnerable to human-induced environmental change, with some of the highest-risk countries in Asia, Latin America and Africa demonstrating the lowest capacity for adaptation.

The study, conducted by researchers at the University of California – Santa Barbara, US, shows that more than 90% of global “blue” food production, in both capture fisheries and aquaculture, faces substantial risks from environmental change, with several countries in Asia and the US set to face the greatest threats to production.

The research also includes an extended dataset that ranks countries worldwide based on the exposure of their blue food production systems to various environmental stressors.

Environmental stressors 
The authors behind the new peer-reviewed paper produced the first-ever global analysis of environmental stressors impacting blue foods’ production quantity and safety worldwide, ranking countries for the first time according to their exposure to key stressors. 

Seventeen stressors were surveyed, including algal blooms, sea level rise, changing temperatures and pesticide exposure.

“Environmental stressors do not care about national borders,” notes Ben Halpern, co-lead author and professor at UC Santa Barbara and director of the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis. 

“Stressors get moved by air, water, species and humans, connecting land to sea and ecosystem to ecosystem.”

Food derived from aquatics
The research published by Nature Sustainability, titled “Vulnerability of Blue Foods to Human-induced Environmental Change,” is one of seven scientific papers published by the Blue Food Assessment as part of a global effort to inform future aquatic food sustainability.

Alongside climate change, the report highlights that highly vulnerable blue food production systems are found across all continents, including some of the world’s largest blue food producers such as Norway, China and the US, yet also argues there is too often a lack of understanding around the complexity of stressors causing environmental change.

“We have only scratched the surface in our understanding of how environmental stressors are connected and how they can both negatively impact the production and safety of the resulting blue foods,” says Ling Cao, co-lead author and professor at the State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science at Xiamen University, China.

Understanding the complexity of these stressors, and their cascading impacts, will be essential in developing successful adaptation and mitigation strategies,” she states.

The paper cites species invasion, inland eutrophication or algal blooms, ocean warming and sea level rise as the main threats to blue food production in the US, with freshwater and marine fisheries facing disproportionately large risks.

The research shows that China’s largest blue food producer of freshwater aquaculture is also highly exposed to inland eutrophication and severe weather events.

The authors also argue that special attention should be paid to countries facing high exposure to environmental change yet needing adequate adaptation capacity, including Bangladesh, Eswatini, Guatemala, Honduras and Uganda.

Diversified adaptation strategies needed
Regarding production systems, the paper finds that marine fisheries were generally more vulnerable to climate-related stressors, particularly rising temperatures and acidification. At the same time, aquaculture was more susceptible to the effects of diseases and hypoxia or low oxygen levels.

“Although we have made some progress with climate change, our adaptation strategies for blue food systems facing environmental change are still underdeveloped and need urgent attention,” adds Rebecca Short, co-lead author and researcher at the Stockholm Resilience Centre.

Among the report’s key recommendations is a call for more transboundary collaboration and adaptation strategies, which recognize that the ecosystems that blue food production relies upon are highly interconnected, with environmental change in one area having potential knock-on effects elsewher.

The authors also underscore the need for diversifying blue food production in high-risk countries to cope with the impact of environmental change unless sufficient mitigation and adaptation strategies are adopted.

Likewise, the paper highlights the urgent need for greater stakeholder engagement in understanding, monitoring and mitigating pressures on blue food production systems. 

Indigenous knowledge will be critical for strategic planning and policies to mitigate and adapt to environmental change, particularly for artisanal fisheries and heavy marine fisheries-dependent countries, such as Small Island Developing States.

Industry-led blue advances
In other developments, Cargill, Mars, Walmart, Costco, World Wildlife Fund and Finance Earth became some of the significant players jointly launching what they describe as an innovative concept to finance the transition to more sustainable fisheries worldwide, as announced earlier this year. The goal is to catalyze over US$100 million in investment in fisheries improvement by 2030.

Meanwhile, the development of alternative sustainable seafood products – including plant- and cell-based fish analogs – are gaining traction as industry looks to turn the tide on unsustainable fishing practices.