An “ecosystem” is a complex and dynamic combination of plants, animals, microorganisms, and the natural environment, living together as a unit and depending on one another. “Biodiversity” encompasses all the countless life forms resulting from these partnerships.

Earth’s ecosystems offer humanity a wide range of benefits known as “ecosystem goods and services.” Goods produced by ecosystems include food (meat, fish, vegetables, etc.), water, fuel, and timber; while services include water supply and air purification, natural waste recycling, soil formation, pollination, and the regulatory mechanisms that nature itself uses to control climatic conditions and populations of animals, insects, and other organisms.

The destruction of ecosystems resulting from industrial and anthropogenic activities, which have led to climate change, has repercussions on human life and health. Although aquaculture can be considered a source of ecosystem destruction due to the environmental impacts of poor management, it can also repopulate the ocean with endangered species, such as the seahorse in the Ria Formosa.

Moreover, if aquaculture is done correctly and well-managed, especially mariculture – the production of marine species in oceanic and coastal environments – it can help mitigate the impacts of its own production and bring benefits to the ecosystems surrounding the production area, as well as having the potential to help combat climate change.

In fact, the production of bivalves such as oysters, clams, and mussels plays an important role in water resources: they clean the water as they filter food and remove nitrogen from the environment, the production zone serves as a habitat for smaller organisms, and they can even help prevent coastal erosion. In other words, they help preserve ecosystems, safeguard biodiversity, and reverse soil degradation.

Along with bivalves, macroalgae production also helps purify water. Thus, when placed alongside fish aquaculture, they capture excess nutrients, prevent ocean acidification and habitat loss, and at the same time create shelter areas, nurseries, and habitats for many fish, increasing the number of fish in the area and improving the surrounding environment.³

What scientific studies demonstrate

A study published in Bioscience⁴ evaluated how greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with fish, macroalgae, and bivalve aquaculture could be mitigated by exploring GHG sources as carbon sinks. The study concludes that if aquaculture is “done right,” it can play an active role in mitigating climate change. Furthermore, it points to aquaculture as a potential global leader in regenerative food systems. To achieve this, effort and investment will be necessary so that zero emissions can be obtained in this industry in the future.

Another study, “Exploring the potential for marine aquaculture to contribute to ecosystem services,” explores the potential of aquaculture to contribute positively to the planet and ecosystems, and adds that incorporating the recognition of ecosystem services into the design and planning of farms has the potential to improve environmental performance and sustainable management of aquaculture.⁵

The UN High-Level Panel on a Sustainable Ocean Economy points to good solutions for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by producing more food in the ocean and increasing our diet with aquaculture protein, concluding that a greater intake of marine fish and seafood would contribute up to 25 percent to reductions in ocean greenhouse gases by 2030.

In conclusion

Aquaculture can thus help contribute positively to the planet by providing quality protein, helping to meet the global challenge of feeding more than nine billion people by 2050, while mitigating the growing problems of climate change.

References:

1. Ecosystem Goods and Services, 2009, European Commission

2. Lisa Jackson, 2022 “Climate change mitigation needs aquaculture, new research concluded”, Global Seafood Alliance.

3. NOA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce

4. Alice R Jones, Heidi K Alleway, Dominic McAfee, Patrick Reis-Santos, Seth J Theuerkauf, Robert C Jones, Seafood-friendly shellfish: the potential for emissions reduction and carbon capture in marine aquaculture, BioScience, Volume 72, Issue 2, February 2022, Pages 123–143, https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biab126

5. Gentry, R.R., Alleway, H.K., Bishop, M.J., Gillies, C.L., Waters, T., and Jones, R. (2020), Exploring the potential for marine aquaculture to contribute to ecological services. Rev Aquacult, 12: 499-512. https://doi.org/10.1111/raq.12328