Winners and losers in U.S. marine aquaculture under climate change

Mariculture will be important to meeting global seafood food demand in the coming decades. Yet, the threat of climate change—such as rising ocean temperatures—on mariculture performance remains uncertain. This is particularly true at small spatial scales relevant to most producers. Additionally, mar...

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Main Authors: C R Fong, J DeCesaro, G Clawson, M Frazier, B S Halpern, H E Froehlich
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IOP Publishing 2024-01-01
Series:Environmental Research Letters
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad76c0
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author C R Fong
J DeCesaro
G Clawson
M Frazier
B S Halpern
H E Froehlich
author_facet C R Fong
J DeCesaro
G Clawson
M Frazier
B S Halpern
H E Froehlich
author_sort C R Fong
collection DOAJ
description Mariculture will be important to meeting global seafood food demand in the coming decades. Yet, the threat of climate change—such as rising ocean temperatures—on mariculture performance remains uncertain. This is particularly true at small spatial scales relevant to most producers. Additionally, mariculture is often limited by regulations that impose restrictions on production, creating potential hurdles for anticipating and adapting to climate change. We focus on mariculture performance in the United States (U.S.), where state and federal policies and exposure to climate change vary substantially and likely interact. We map a current and future mariculture performance index by combining the first high resolution downscaled (0.083°) climate outputs for U.S. waters, species-specific physiological requirements, and policy restrictions. We find high current performance that will increase under warming oceans, with spatial variation that will amplify existing regional differences. Generally, performance will increase in the north and decrease in the south. While the permitting process is not intentionally climate-forward, permitted species outperformed taxon averages, yet state policies often limit production of seaweeds and finfishes, which perform well. Thus, we sit at a critical juncture where the U.S. could capitalize on its seemingly favorable environmental conditions through re-alignment of regulations to support portfolio diversification to include climate-resilient species.
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issn 1748-9326
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publishDate 2024-01-01
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series Environmental Research Letters
spelling doaj-art-49f58ed3f3e44d83aad76afbbd1721072024-11-26T19:23:36ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262024-01-01191111402410.1088/1748-9326/ad76c0Winners and losers in U.S. marine aquaculture under climate changeC R Fong0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7241-3862J DeCesaro1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2043-7667G Clawson2M Frazier3B S Halpern4H E Froehlich5National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, University of California Santa Barbara , Santa Barbara, CA, United States of AmericaNational Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, University of California Santa Barbara , Santa Barbara, CA, United States of AmericaNational Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, University of California Santa Barbara , Santa Barbara, CA, United States of AmericaNational Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, University of California Santa Barbara , Santa Barbara, CA, United States of AmericaNational Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, University of California Santa Barbara , Santa Barbara, CA, United States of America; Bren School of Environmental Science, University of California Santa Barbara , Santa Barbara, CA, United States of AmericaEcology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California Santa Barbara , Santa Barbara, CA, United States of America; Environmental Science, University of California Santa Barbara , Santa Barbara, CA, United States of AmericaMariculture will be important to meeting global seafood food demand in the coming decades. Yet, the threat of climate change—such as rising ocean temperatures—on mariculture performance remains uncertain. This is particularly true at small spatial scales relevant to most producers. Additionally, mariculture is often limited by regulations that impose restrictions on production, creating potential hurdles for anticipating and adapting to climate change. We focus on mariculture performance in the United States (U.S.), where state and federal policies and exposure to climate change vary substantially and likely interact. We map a current and future mariculture performance index by combining the first high resolution downscaled (0.083°) climate outputs for U.S. waters, species-specific physiological requirements, and policy restrictions. We find high current performance that will increase under warming oceans, with spatial variation that will amplify existing regional differences. Generally, performance will increase in the north and decrease in the south. While the permitting process is not intentionally climate-forward, permitted species outperformed taxon averages, yet state policies often limit production of seaweeds and finfishes, which perform well. Thus, we sit at a critical juncture where the U.S. could capitalize on its seemingly favorable environmental conditions through re-alignment of regulations to support portfolio diversification to include climate-resilient species.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad76c0maricultureblue economyindexperformancemodeling
spellingShingle C R Fong
J DeCesaro
G Clawson
M Frazier
B S Halpern
H E Froehlich
Winners and losers in U.S. marine aquaculture under climate change
Environmental Research Letters
mariculture
blue economy
index
performance
modeling
title Winners and losers in U.S. marine aquaculture under climate change
title_full Winners and losers in U.S. marine aquaculture under climate change
title_fullStr Winners and losers in U.S. marine aquaculture under climate change
title_full_unstemmed Winners and losers in U.S. marine aquaculture under climate change
title_short Winners and losers in U.S. marine aquaculture under climate change
title_sort winners and losers in u s marine aquaculture under climate change
topic mariculture
blue economy
index
performance
modeling
url https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad76c0
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AT jdecesaro winnersandlosersinusmarineaquacultureunderclimatechange
AT gclawson winnersandlosersinusmarineaquacultureunderclimatechange
AT mfrazier winnersandlosersinusmarineaquacultureunderclimatechange
AT bshalpern winnersandlosersinusmarineaquacultureunderclimatechange
AT hefroehlich winnersandlosersinusmarineaquacultureunderclimatechange