'Blue food revolution' to tackle climate change and malnutrition

Date:
September 16, 2021
Source:
University of California - Santa Barbara
Summary:
An unprecedented review of the aquatic foods sector has uncovered
how fisheries and aquaculture can play a greater role in delivering
healthy diets and more sustainable, equitable and resilient food
systems around the world.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
An unprecedented review of the aquatic foods sector has uncovered how
fisheries and aquaculture can play a greater role in delivering healthy
diets and more sustainable, equitable and resilient food systems around
the world.


==========================================================================
Five peer-reviewed papers in the journal Naturehighlight the opportunities
to leverage the vast diversity of aquatic, or "blue," foods in the coming decades to address malnutrition, lower the environmental footprint of
the food system, and provide livelihoods.

"People are trying to make more informed choices about the food they
eat, in particular the environmental footprint of their food," said
Ben Halpern, a marine ecologist at UC Santa Barbara's Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, who with colleagues examined the environmental sustainability of aquatic foods, the potential for the
growth of small-scale producers and the climate risks that face aquatic
food systems. "For the first time we pulled together data from hundreds
of studies on a wide range of seafood species to help answer that
question. Blue foods stack up really well overall and provide a great
option for sustainable food." The research projects that global demand
for blue foods will roughly double by 2050, and will be met primarily
through increased aquaculture production rather than by capture fisheries.

Investing in innovation and improving fisheries management could increase consumption even more and have profound effects on malnutrition. For
instance, a "high growth" modeling scenario showed that increasing supply
by 15.5 million tons (8%), causing a drop in prices, would reduce cases
of nutrient deficiencies by 166 million, especially among low-income populations.

"Small-scale fishers -- the individuals and small boats that fish in
places all around the world -- are a huge part of the global seafood
system and are incredibly diverse in who they are and how they fish,"
said Halpern, who also directs the National Center for Ecological
Analysis & Synthesis at UCSB. "That diversity creates both opportunities
and challenges for sustainably managing the oceans. We unpacked this
diversity to help guide better management." Blue foods were found to
rank more highly than terrestrial animal-source foods in terms of their nutritional benefits and potential for sustainability gains.



==========================================================================
Many blue food species are rich in important nutrients. Compared to
chicken, trout has approximately 19 times more omega-3 fatty acids;
oysters and mussels have 76 times more vitamin B-12 and five times more
iron; and carps have nine times more calcium.

"For the first time we got to see what more aquatic food production
would mean for human health globally," said Bren School marine ecologist
and assistant researcher Christopher Free, who with fellow UCSB marine scientist Jacob Eurich co-authored a study that examines the nutritional potential of blue foods.

"What we project is that by making aquatic foods cheaper to the
consumer, there's likely going to be a shift away from land-based
foods like chicken, beef and dairy. I think what made us really excited
is knowing that aquatic food could be a useful solution to combating malnutrition, and really showing that comprehensively for the first time."
The nutritional benefits of blue foods are especially important for women,
who were found to benefit more than men from increased consumption in
nearly three times the number of countries studied.

On average, the major species produced in aquaculture, such as tilapia,
salmon, catfish and carp, were found to have environmental footprints comparable to chicken, the lowest-impact terrestrial meat. Small pelagic species like sardines and anchovies, bivalves and seaweeds all already
offer lower stressors than chicken.

Further investments to improve the sector's efficiency and reduce its environmental footprint can have sector-wide benefits, including for
less commonly raised species like European bass, weakfish, flatfish,
sea breams and milkfish.



==========================================================================
The research found that blue food systems facing the highest risk from
climate change are also typically located in those regions where people
rely on them most and where they are least equipped to respond and adapt
to climate hazards.

"Climate change is creating all sorts of risks to humanity, including to
our food," Halpern said. "Blue foods are no different and in fact face
some unique risks from things like acidifying and warming waters. But
not all foods are equally vulnerable to these risks -- in our work we
show where, how and why different blue foods face different risks from
climate change." These five papers are the first in a series produced
by the Blue Food Assessment (BFA), a group of more than 100 leading
researchers led by Stanford University's Center for Ocean Solutions &
Center on Food Security and the Environment, the Stockholm Resilience
Centre at Stockholm University and EAT.

"Blue foods are much more diverse than typically thought, and so too
are the many communities of small-scale fishers who are often overlooked despite providing the majority of blue food people eat," said Beatrice
Crona, co-chair of the BFA and deputy science director at the Stockholm Resilience Centre.

"Few, if any, countries are developing their blue food sector to provide ecological, economic, and health benefits to its full potential," said
Rosamond Naylor, BFA co-chair and founding director of the Center on Food Security and the Environment at Stanford University. "This assessment
aims to provide the scientific foundation for decision-makers to
evaluate trade-offs and implement solutions that will make blue foods an instrumental part of an improved food system from local to global scales."
"The BFA assessment emphasizes the enormous diversity of blue foods, all
of which carry important nutritional, cultural, economic and environmental value," said Fabrice DeClerck, EAT science director. "To realize its
potential, policymakers should put in place better governance, including participation of small producers, women and other marginalized groups,
better stewardship of the natural resources on which blue foods rely;
and investment in building resilience to climate change." "We are nine
fishing seasons away from the deadline for achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals so the urgency is high," said Jim Leape,co- director
of the Stanford Center for Ocean Solutions. "This research can help policymakers, companies, financiers, fishers and consumers capitalize
on the immense potential of blue foods to help achieve those goals."
More than 2,500 species or species groups of fish, shellfish, aquatic
plants and algae are caught or cultivated globally for food, providing livelihoods and incomes for more than 100 million and sustenance for
one billion.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
University_of_California_-_Santa_Barbara. Original written by Sonia
Fernandez. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal References:
1. Jessica A. Gephart, Patrik J. G. Henriksson, Robert W. R. Parker,
Alon
Shepon, Kelvin D. Gorospe, Kristina Bergman, Gidon Eshel,
Christopher D.

Golden, Benjamin S. Halpern, Sara Hornborg, Malin Jonell,
Marc Metian, Kathleen Mifflin, Richard Newton, Peter Tyedmers,
Wenbo Zhang, Friederike Ziegler, Max Troell. Environmental
performance of blue foods. Nature, 2021; 597 (7876): 360 DOI:
10.1038/s41586-021-03889-2
2. Rebecca E. Short, Stefan Gelcich, David C. Little, Fiorenza Micheli,
Edward H. Allison, Xavier Basurto, Ben Belton, Cecile Brugere,
Simon R.

Bush, Ling Cao, Beatrice Crona, Philippa J. Cohen, Omar Defeo, Peter
Edwards, Caroline E. Ferguson, Nicole Franz, Christopher D. Golden,
Benjamin S. Halpern, Lucie Hazen, Christina Hicks, Derek Johnson,
Alexander M. Kaminski, Sangeeta Mangubhai, Rosamond L. Naylor,
Melba Reantaso, U. Rashid Sumaila, Shakuntala H. Thilsted, Michelle
Tigchelaar, Colette C. C. Wabnitz, Wenbo Zhang. Harnessing the
diversity of small- scale actors is key to the future of aquatic
food systems. Nature Food, 2021; DOI: 10.1038/s43016-021-00363-0
3. Michelle Tigchelaar, William W. L. Cheung, Essam Yassin Mohammed,
Michael
J. Phillips, Hanna J. Payne, Elizabeth R. Selig, Colette
C. C. Wabnitz, Muhammed A. Oyinlola, Thomas L. Fro"licher,
Jessica A. Gephart, Christopher D. Golden, Edward H. Allison,
Abigail Bennett, Ling Cao, Jessica Fanzo, Benjamin S. Halpern,
Vicky W. Y. Lam, Fiorenza Micheli, Rosamond L. Naylor, U. Rashid
Sumaila, Alessandro Tagliabue, Max Troell.

Compound climate risks threaten aquatic food system benefits. Nature
Food, 2021; DOI: 10.1038/s43016-021-00368-9 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/09/210916173440.htm

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