JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020
VOLUME 11 ISSUE 1
CLIMATE CHANGE Credit: Blue Ocean Mariculture
Aquaculture puts a silver lining in dismal climate change narrative New report says mariculture could inspire a shift in conversations from devastation and losses to resilience and growth
Salmon farmers feel the heat More efforts are needed to fill knowledge gaps in mitigating climate change, say stakeholders
Nofima scientist Elisabeth Ytteborg says the industry is now waking up to climate change Credit: Joe Urrutia
BY LYNN FANTOM
BY LALOU RAMOS
limate change is a great equalizer for everyone involved in ocean-focused industries. Economies big and small are reeling from its impact and grappling to mitigate its threat to industries and global food production. In his recent tour of the South Pacific, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the world “was not on track” to limiting global temperature rises and that it is “losing its political will to tackle climate change.”
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Stakes are particularly high in the ocean economy, which contributes hundreds of millions of jobs and approximately $2.5 trillion to the global economy yearly, making it the world’s seventh-largest economy compared with national gross domestic products. Decrease in production of aquatic plants and animals, as well as changes to their habitats due to climate change, impact a broad ecosystem that farms, processes, transports and consumes aquatic resources. continued on page 11
OFFSHORE MUSSEL FARMING
‘An opportunity too good to ignore’ C
A series of new NOAA studies offer strong scientific basis for offshore mussel farming Credit: Catalina Sea Ranch continued on page 12
alling it “an opportunity too good to ignore,” NOAA scientists are giving a thumbs-up to offshore mussel farming in the Northeast United States based on new research and a trove of data. The news signals a step forward on how to chip away at the $15 billion US seafood trade deficit. Serial entrepreneur Phil Cruver claimed “first mover” status in the space in 2012 when he founded the 100-acre Catalina Sea Ranch off Long Beach, California. Despite waves of publicity since, regulatory and funding concerns have given entrepreneurs the jitters such that only research trial farms have followed. But this new strong scientific basis for offshore mussel farming could be the first step in changing all that.
ith the south-coast beaches and coves of Newfoundland caked in salmon fat last October, it became easier for everyone—scientist, salmon farmer, and citizen—to imagine the unimaginable impact of climate change, which will only get worse, according to the lead researcher of a new study. “The industry is now waking up to climate change. It hasn’t been that much of a focus until now,” says Dr Elisabeth Ytteborg, researcher at Nofima, a Norwegian research institute specializing in fisheries, aquaculture, and food. The crisis at Northern Harvest, purchased by Mowi last year, sharpened attention when 2.6 million salmon died as a result of low oxygen. The “temperature event,” as Mowi officials called it, occurred after 11 to 13 days of temperatures in the range of 17 to 21C throughout the water column. Seeking relief, salmon retreated deeper into the net pens in Fortune Bay, crowding together and depleting their oxygen supply.
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