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I love all aquatic life, and have aspirations to become a marine biologist.

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A fact on the SDG website that grabbed my attention was that in 2023, 1 in 5 fish caught originated from unreported/unregulated fishing.

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There are 6 great garbage patches located in various parts of the earth, with the largest being the great Pacific garbage patch, with a few billion pieces of floating plastic which is the fate of many marine animals each year.

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Marine animals and sea birds become entangled in or ingest plastic lingering in the ocean. For example, the black footed albatross is often observed mistaking plastic for food and feeding it to their young, causing them to live much shorter lives.

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I found this super cool video of researchers trying to locate where most of our plastic ends up in the ocean. As it turns out, its all mostly on the shoreline.

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Why 99% of ocean plastic pollution is "missing"

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Over-fishing is a bigger problem than most would think. Under a management system called fishing rights, areas are reserved to specific states where they are allowed to fish. Under fishing rights, fishermen’s interests are tied to the long-term health of a fishery. Their income improves along with the fish population.

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Overfishing: The most serious threat to our oceans

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Of all the threats facing the oceans today, overfishing takes the greatest toll on sea life — and people.

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While off-shore oil rigs have the potential to leak natural gas and hydraulic fluids, they also quickly become thriving reef-ecosystems with plentiful marine life.

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I decided to research more into over-fishing, as it is a prevailing issue all over the world.

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Fisheries in Africa which communities have been depending on for generations are starting to collapse, due to foreign fishing and illegal fishing in the region.

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Fishing is essential in Asia, as its where over half the worlds imported fish come from. However, The western central Pacific and eastern Indian Oceans, including Southeast Asia, are among the most severely affected areas worldwide.

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Out of all of Europe's waters, the Mediterranean is the most affected by over-fishing. Persistent over-fishing threatens Europe's marine ecosystems, food security and biodiversity. A organization called client earth is taking legal action against EU ministers for allowing hugely unsustainable fishing to take place.

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Latin America has marine species that are in crucial danger due to over-fishing. In Chile, 62 percent of fisheries are overexploited or depleted. In Colombia, shrimp, the country’s second most exported fish product, is severely over fished. In 2017, the Ecuadorian navy seized 300 tons of fish, including protected species of shark.

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I've decided to look into more specific over-fishing effects, researching on websites like science daily to find related-articles.

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According to science daily, Simon Fraser University developed the Red List Index (RLI) which shows that the risk of extinction for Chondrichthyan has increased by 19 per cent. Chondrichthyan are an ancient diverse group of over 1,199 fishes, which include species of sharks and rays.

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A new analysis published in the journal Science reveals that overfishing has caused populations of chondrichthyan fishes -- sharks, rays, and chimaeras -- to decline by more than 50 per cent since 1970. To determine the consequences, a team of researchers developed an aquatic Red List Index (RLI) which shows that the risk of extinction for chondrichthyan has increased by 19 per cent. The study also highlights that the overfishing of the largest species in nearshore and pelagic habitats could eliminate up to 22 per cent of ecological functions.

Chondrichthyans are an ancient and ecologically diverse group of over 1,199 fishes that are increasingly threatened by human activities. Overexploitation by target fisheries and incidental capture (bycatch), compounded by habitat degradation, climate change and pollution, has resulted in over one-third of chondrichthyans facing extinction. Here, the RLI was used to track the status of these species over the past 50-years.

"The shark and ray RLI shows how declines first occurred in rivers, estuaries, and nearshore coastal waters before spreading across the oceans and then down into the deep sea," said Professor Nicholas K. Dulvy at Simon Fraser University. "The sequential depletion of the largest and most functionally important species -- such as sawfishes and rhino rays -- was followed by the decline of large stingrays, eagle rays, angel sharks, hammerheads and requiem sharks. Eventually, fisheries turned to deepwater sharks and skates for the liver oil and meat trade."

These widespread documented declines are expected to have significant consequences on other species and aquatic ecosystems.

"Sharks and rays are important predators, and their decline disrupts food webs throughout the Ocean. Larger wide-ranging species connect ecosystems, for example, reef sharks are vital in transferring nutrients from deeper waters to coral reefs, helping to sustain those ecosystems," said Dr. Nathan Pacoureau at the European Institute for Marine Studies, Brest University, France. "Rays, meanwhile, are important foraging animals that mix and oxygenate sediments, influencing marine productivity and carbon storage."

Despite these alarming trends, the team emphasizes the positive development in the appreciation and conservation of sharks and rays.

"This analysis points to solutions" said Professor Colin Simpfendorfer, James Cook University, Australia. "Nations can reduce the extinction risk by lowering fishing pressure to sustainable levels, strengthening fisheries governance, and eliminating harmful subsidies. Progress has already created bright spots of hope for chondrichthyans, including in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United States, and parts of Europe and South Africa"

"The Red List Index has been a tool used by governments for monitoring conservation progress on land, yet no equivalent existed for the Ocean." said Dr Rima Jabado, Deputy Chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) and Chair of the IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group. "This new shark and ray RLI will help track progress toward ocean biodiversity and sustainability targets, identify the species and places most at risk and guide future conservation efforts."

The study was completed as part of the Global Shark Trends Project (GSTP), a collaboration of the IUCN Species Survival Commission Shark Specialist Group, Simon Fraser University, James Cook University, and the Georgia Aquarium established with support from the Shark Conservation Fund to assess the extinction risk for chondrichthyan fishes (sharks, rays, and chimaeras). The analysis is based upon the first global reassessment of IUCN Red List Status published in 2021. The team engaged 322 experts through 17 workshops from around the world to complete the 8-year long reassessment.

The Red List Index (RLI) shows trends in overall extinction risk for species, and is used by governments to track their progress towards targets for reducing biodiversity loss. Up to now, the RLI is available for five taxonomic groups only (those in which all species have been assessed at least twice): birds, mammals, amphibians, cycads and warm-water reef-forming corals. The RLI can be disaggregated in various ways: thematic RLIs show trends for subsets of species of particular policy relevance. The RLI can be calculated for individual countries and regions, with each species contributing to the index weighted by the proportion of its global range within the country or region.

Class Chondrichthyes comprises three main lineages: sharks, and rays, and chimaeras (a relatively small group of mainly deepwater species). Chondrichthyans makeup the oldest and largest evolutionary radiation of vertebrates and one of the three taxonomic Classes of fishes. Here we consider 1,199 species from the comprehensive global reassessment, which is the most accurate assessment of the decade.

Starting in the 1990s, the conservation of sharks and rays has been increasingly considered within Regional Fisheries Bodies (including Regional Fisheries Management Organizations) and international wildlife treaties, particularly the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES). Through various associated actions aimed primarily at ending overexploitation of threatened species, member governments are required to restrict fishing and/or exports to sustainable levels, but the record for fulfilling these commitments has to date been generally poor. To date, deepwater sharks and rays have largely been ignored from these efforts.

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fish; extinction; nature; new species; ocean policy; environmental policies; land management; resource shortage

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Overfishing has halved shark and ray populations since 1970

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A new analysis reveals that overfishing has caused populations of chondrichthyan fishes -- sharks, rays, and chimaeras -- to decline by more than 50 per cent since 1970. To determine the consequences, a team of researchers developed an aquatic Red List Index (RLI) which shows that the risk of extinction for chondrichthyan has increased by 19 per cent.

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Methylmercury is an extremely toxic substance from powerplant's waste that enters into our waters. In China, that have had very strict water policy's since the 80's. From 1980–2022, these measures unexpectedly prevented 102,000 mercury-related deaths and counteracted nearly two thirds of potential deaths from those emissions.

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Sustainable aquaculture is vital for meeting the growing global demand for seafood while protecting the environment. Currently, 42% of consumed seafood comes from aquaculture. The Ocean Foundation is exploring sustainable approaches like closed-system technologies (like recirculating tanks and inland ponds) to reduce environmental harm and enhance sustainability.

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Sustainable aquaculture could be the key to feeding our growing population. Currently, 42% of the seafood we consume is farmed, but there are no regulations that constitute what "good" aquaculture is yet.

Aquaculture makes a substantial contribution to our food supplies, so it must be done in a way that is sustainable. Specifically, The OF is looking at various closed-system technologies, including re-circulating tanks, raceways, flow-through systems, and inland ponds. These systems are being used for numerous species of fish, shellfish, and aquatic plants. Although the clear benefits (health and otherwise) of closed-system aquaculture systems have been recognized, we also support efforts to avoid the environmental and food safety flaws of open pen aquaculture. We hope to work toward international as well as domestic efforts that can effect positive change.

The Ocean Foundation has compiled the following outside sources into an annotated bibliography to provide more information on Sustainable Aquaculture for all audiences.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

Aquaculture is the controlled cultivation or farming of fish, shellfish, and aquatic plants. The purpose is to create a source of aquatic-sourced food and commercial products in a way that will increase availability while reducing environmental harm and protecting various aquatic species. There are several different kinds of aquaculture that each has varying degrees of sustainability.

Rising global populations and income will continue to increase demand for fish. And with wild catch levels essentially flat, all increases in fish and seafood production have come from aquaculture. While aquaculture does face challenges such as sea lice and pollution many players in the industry are actively working to address its challenges.

Aquaculture-Four Approaches

There are four major approaches to aquaculture seen today: near-shore open pens, experimental offshore open pens, land-based "closed" systems, and "ancient" open systems.

1. Near-shore Open Pens.

The near-shore aquaculture systems have most often been used to raise shellfish, salmon and other carnivorous finfish and, except for shellfish mariculture, are typically seen as the least sustainable and the most environmentally detrimental type of aquaculture. The inherent "open to the ecosystem" design of these systems makes it extremely hard to address the problems of fecal waste, interactions with predators, introduction of non-native/exotic species, excess inputs (food, antibiotics), habitat destruction, and disease transfer. In addition, coastal waters cannot sustain the current practice of moving on down the shoreline following disabling disease outbreaks within the pens. [NB: If we grow mollusks near shore, or dramatically limit near-shore open pens in scale and focus on raising herbivores, there is some improvement on the sustainability of the aquaculture system. In our view it is worth exploring these limited alternatives.]

2. Offshore Open Pens.

The newer experimental offshore pen aquaculture systems just move these same negative effects out of sight and also add other impacts on the environment, including the larger carbon footprint to manage facilities that are further offshore.

3. Land-based "Closed" Systems.

Land-based "closed" systems, commonly referred to as recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS), are receiving more and more attention as a viable long-term sustainable solution to aquaculture, both in the developed and developing world. Small, inexpensive closed systems are being modeled to be used in developing countries while larger, more commercially viable, and expensive options are being created in more developed countries. These systems are self-contained and often allow for effective polyculture approaches to raising animals and vegetables together. They are particularly considered sustainable when they are powered by renewable energy, they ensure nearly 100% reclamation of their water, and they are focused on raising omnivores and herbivores.

4. "Ancient" Open Systems.

Fish farming is not new; it has been practiced for centuries in many cultures. Ancient Chinese societies fed silkworm feces and nymphs to carp raised in ponds on silkworm farms, Egyptians farmed tilapia as part of their elaborate irrigation technology, and Hawaiians were able to farm a multitude of species such as milkfish, mullet, prawns, and crab (Costa-Pierce, 1987). Archaeologists have also found evidence for aquaculture in Mayan society and in the traditions of some North American native communities (www.enaca.org).

Environmental Issues

As noted above there are several types of Aquaculture each with their own environmental footprint that vary from sustainable to highly problematic. Offshore aquaculture (often called open ocean or open water aquaculture) is seen as a new source of economic growth, but it ignores a series of environmental and ethical issues of a few companies controlling vast resources through privatization. Offshore aquaculture may lead to the spread of disease, promote unsustainable fish feed practices, cause the discharge of bio-hazardous materials, entangle wildlife, and lead fish escapes. Fish escapes are when farmed fish escape into the environment, which causes significant harm to the wild fish population and the ecosystem as a whole. Historically it has not been a question of if escapes occur, but when they will occur. One recent study found that 92% of all fish escapes are from sea-based fish farms (Føre & Thorvaldsen, 2021). Offshore aquaculture is capital intensive and not financially viable as it currently stands.

There are also issues with waste and wastewater dumping in nearshore aquaculture. In one example nearshore facilities were found to release 66 million gallons of wastewater - including hundreds of pounds of nitrates - into local estuaries every day.

Why should Aquaculture be Encouraged?

Millions of people around the world depend on fish for their food and livelihoods. Roughly one-third of global fish stocks are fished unsustainably, while two-thirds of the ocean's fish are currently fished sustainably. Aquaculture makes a substantial contribution to our food supplies, so it must be done in a way that is sustainable. Specifically, TOF is looking at various closed-system technologies, including recirculating tanks, raceways, flow-through systems, and inland ponds. These systems are being used for numerous species of fish, shellfish, and aquatic plants. Although the clear benefits (health and otherwise) of closed-system aquaculture systems have been recognized, we also support efforts to avoid the environmental and food safety flaws of open pen aquaculture. We hope to work toward international as well as domestic efforts that can affect positive change.

Despite the challenges of Aquaculture, The Ocean Foundation advocates for the continued development of aquaculture companies - amongst other companies relevant to ocean health - as the world will likely see a rising demand for seafood. In one example, The Ocean Foundation works with Rockefeller and Credit Suisse to speak with aquaculture companies about their efforts to address sea lice, pollution, and the sustainability of fish feed.

The Ocean Foundation is also working in collaboration with partners at the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) and the Harvard Law School's Emmett Environmental Law and Policy Clinic to clarify and improve how aquaculture is managed in United States federal ocean waters.

Find these resources below and on ELI's website:

2. The Basics of Aquaculture
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2022). Fisheries and Aquaculture. United nations. https://www.fao.org/fishery/en/aquaculture
Aquaculture is a millennia-old activity that today supplies more than half of all fish consumed around the world. However, aquaculture has caused undesirable environmental changes including: social conflicts between users of land and aquatic resources, the destruction of important ecosystem services, habitat destruction, the use of harmful chemicals and veterinary drugs, unsustainable production of fishmeal and fish oil, and social and cultural effects on aquaculture workers and communities. This comprehensive overview of Aquaculture for both laymen and experts covers the definition of aquaculture, selected studies, fact sheets, performance indicators, regional reviews, and a code of conduct for fisheries.

Jones, R., Dewey, B., and Seaver, B. (2022, January 28). Aquaculture: Why the World Needs a New Wave of Food Production. World Economic Forum.
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/01/aquaculture-agriculture-food-systems/
Aquatic farmers can be vital observers of changing ecosystems. Marine aquaculture offers numerous benefits from helping the world diversify its stressed food systems, to climate mitigation efforts such as carbon sequestering and contributions to industries that produce eco-friendly products. Aquaculture farmers are even in a special position to act as ecosystem observers and report on environmental changes. The authors acknowledge that aquaculture is not immune to problems and pollution, but once adjustments to practices are made, aquaculture is a critically important industry for long-term sustainable development.

Alice R Jones, Heidi K Alleway, Dominic McAfee, Patrick Reis-Santos, Seth J Theuerkauf, Robert C Jones, Climate-Friendly Seafood: 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

Aquaculture produces 52% of the aquatic animal products consumed with mariculture generating 37.5% of this production and 97% of the world's seaweed harvest. However, keeping lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions will depend on carefully thought out policies as seaweed aquaculture continues to scale. By linking the provision of mariculture products to GHG abatement opportunities, the authors argue that the aquaculture industry can advance climate-friendly practices that generate sustainable environmental, social, and economic outcomes for the long term.
FAO. 2021. World Food and Agriculture - Statistical Yearbook 2021. Rome. https://doi.org/10.4060/cb4477en
Each year the Food and Agriculture Organization produces a statistical yearbook with information on the global food and agriculture landscape and economically important information. The report includes several sections that discuss data on fisheries and aquaculture, forestry, international commodity prices, and water. While this resource is not as targeted as other sources presented here, its role in tracking the economic development of aquaculture cannot be overlooked.

FAO. 2019. FAO's work on climate change - Fisheries & aquaculture. Rome. https://www.fao.org/3/ca7166en/ca7166en.pdf

The Food and Agriculture Organisation related a special report to coincide with the 2019 Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere. They argue that Climate change will lead to significant changes in the availability and trade of fish and marine products with potentially important geopolitical and economic consequences. This will be particularly hard on countries that depend on the ocean and seafood as a source of protein (fishery-dependent populations).
Bindoff, N.L., W.W.L. Cheung, J.G. Kairo, J. Arístegui, V.A. Guinder, R. Hallberg, N. Hilmi, N. Jiao, M.S. Karim, L. Levin, S. O'Donoghue, S.R. Purca Cuicapusa, B. Rinkevich, T. Suga, A. Tagliabue, and P. Williamson, 2019: Changing Ocean, Marine Ecosystems, and Dependent Communities. In: IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate [H.-O. Pörtner, D.C. Roberts, V. Masson-Delmotte, P. Zhai, M. Tignor, E. Poloczanska, K. Mintenbeck, A. Alegría, M. Nicolai, A. Okem, J. Petzold, B. Rama, N.M. Weyer (eds.)]. In press. https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/sites/3/2019/11/09_SROCC_Ch05_FINAL.pdf
Due to climate change, ocean-based extractive industries will not be feasible long-term without adopting more sustainable practices. The 2019 Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere notes that the fisheries and aquaculture sector is highly vulnerable to climate drivers. In particular, chapter five of the report argues for increased investment in aquaculture and highlights several areas of research needed to promote long-term sustainability. In short, the need for sustainable aquaculture practices simply cannot be ignored.
Heidi K Alleway, Chris L Gillies, Melanie J Bishop, Rebecca R Gentry, Seth J Theuerkauf, Robert Jones, The Ecosystem Services of Marine Aquaculture: Valuing Benefits to People and Nature, BioScience, Volume 69, Issue 1, January 2019, Pages 59-68, https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biy137
As the world's population continues to grow, Aquaculture will become crucial to the future supply of seafood. However, challenges associated with the negative aspects of aquaculture could impede increased production. The environmental harms will only be mitigated by increasing recognition, understanding, and accounting of ecosystem service provision by mariculture through innovative policies, financing, and certification schemes that may incentivize active delivery of benefits. Thus, aquaculture should be viewed not as separate from the environment but as a crucial part of the ecosystem, as long as proper management practices are put in place.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (2017). NOAA Aquaculture Research - Story Map. Department of Commerce. https://noaa.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Shortlist/index.html?appid=7b4af1ef0efb425ba35d6f2c8595600f

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration created an interactive story map that highlights their own internal research projects on aquaculture. These projects include analysis of the culture of specific species, life-cycle analysis, alternative feeds, ocean acidification, and potential habitat benefits and impacts. The story map highlights NOAA projects from 2011 through 2016 and is most useful for students, researchers who are interested in past NOAA projects, and a general audience.
Engle, C., McNevin, A., Racine, P., Boyd, C., Paungkaew, D., Viriyatum, R., Quoc Tinh, H., and Ngo Minh, H. (2017, April 3). Economics of Sustainable Intensification of Aquaculture: Evidence from Farms in Vietnam and Thailand. Journal of the World Aquaculture Society, Vol. 48, No. 2, p. 227-239. https://doi.org/10.1111/jwas.12423.
The growth of aquaculture is necessary to provide food for increasing global population levels. This study looked at 40 aquaculture farms in Thailand and 43 in Vietnam to determine how sustainable the growth of aquaculture in these areas is. The study found that there was a strong value when shrimp farmers used natural resources and other inputs in an efficient manner and that on-shore aquaculture can be made to be more sustainable. Additional research will still be needed to provide ongoing guidance related to sustainable management practices for aquaculture.

3. Pollution and Threats to the Environment
Føre, H. and Thorvaldsen, T. (2021, February 15). Causal Analysis of Escape of Atlantic Salmon and Rainbow Trout from Norwegian Fish Farms During 2010 - 2018. Aquaculture, Vol. 532. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2020.736002
A recent study of Norwegian fish farms found that 92% of all fish escapes are from sea-based fish farms, while less than 7% were from land-based facilities and 1% were from transportation. The study looked at a nine year period (2019-2018) and counted more than 305 reported escaped incidents with nearly 2 million escaped fish, this number is significant given the study was limited to only Salmon and Rainbow Trout farmed in Norway. Most of these escapes were directly caused by holes in the nets, though other technological factors such as damaged equipment and bad weather played a role. This study highlights the significant problem of open water aquaculture as an unsustainable practice.
Racine, P., Marley, A., Froehlich, H., Gaines, S., Ladner, I., MacAdam-Somer, I., and Bradley, D. (2021). A case for seaweed aquaculture inclusion in U.S. nutrient pollution management, Marine Policy, Vol. 129, 2021, 104506, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2021.104506.
Seaweed has the potential to reduce marine nutrient pollution, curb growing eutrophication (including hypoxia), and augment land-based pollution control by removing large quantities of nitrogen and phosphorus from coastal ecosystems. Yet, to date very seaweed has not been used in this capacity. As the world continues to suffer from the effects of nutrient runoff, seaweed offers an environmentally friendly solution that is worth the short-term investment for long-term payoffs.
Flegel, T. and Alday-Sanz, V. (2007, July) The Crisis in Asian Shrimp Aquaculture: Current Status and Future Needs. Journal of Applied Ichthyology. Wiley Online Library. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-0426.1998.tb00654.x
In the mid- 2000s, all commonly cultivated shrimp in Asia were found to have White-spot disease causing a likely loss of several billion dollars. While this disease was addressed, this case study highlights the threat of disease within the aquaculture industry. Moving forward further research and development work will be needed, if the shrimp industry is to become sustainable, including: a better understanding of shrimp defenses against disease; additional research into nutrition; and the elimination of environmental harms.

4. Current Developments and New Trends in Aquaculture
Boyd, C., D'Abramo, L., Glencross,B., David C. Huyben, D., Juarez, L., Lockwood, G., McNevin, A., Tacon, A., Teletchea, F., Tomasso Jr, J., Tucker, C., Valenti, W. (2020, June 24). Achieving Sustainable Aquaculture: Historical and current perspectives and future needs and challenges. Journal of the World Aquaculture Society. Wiley Online Libraryhttps://doi.org/10.1111/jwas.12714
Over the last five years, the Aquaculture industry has reduced its carbon footprint through the gradual assimilation of new production systems that have reduced greenhouse gas emissions, reduced the use of freshwater per unit produced, improved feed management practices, and adopted new farming practices. This study proves that while aquaculture continues to see some environmental harm, the overall trend is moving toward a more sustainable industry.
Turchini, G., Jesse T. Trushenski, J., and Glencross, B. (2018, September 15). Thoughts for the Future of Aquaculture Nutrition: Realigning Perspectives to Reflect Contemporary Issues Related to Judicious Use of Marine Resources in Aquafeeds. American Fisheries Society. https://doi.org/10.1002/naaq.10067 https://afspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/naaq.10067
Over the last several decades' researchers have made great progress in aquaculture nutrition research and alternative feedstocks. However, reliance on marine resources remains an ongoing constraint that reduces sustainability. A holistic research strategy-aligned with industry needs and focused on nutrient composition and ingredient complementarity-is needed to spur future advancement in aquaculture nutrition.
Buck, B., Troell, M., Krause, G., Angel, D., Grote, B., and Chopin, T. ( 2018, May 15). State of the Art and Challenges for Offshore Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA). Frontiers in Marine Science. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2018.00165
The authors of this paper argue that moving aquaculture facilities out to the open ocean and away from nearshore ecosystems will help the large-scale expansion of marine food production. This study excels in its summary of the current developments of offshore aquaculture technologies, especially the use of integrated multi-trophic aquaculture where several species (such as finfish, oysters, sea cucumbers, and kelp) are farmed together to create an integrated cultivation system. However, it should be noted that offshore aquaculture may still cause environmental harm and is not yet economically viable.
Duarte, C., Wu, J., Xiao, X., Bruhn, A., Krause-Jensen, D. (2017). Can Seaweed Farming Play a Role in Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation? Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol. 4. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2017.00100
Seaweed aquaculture is not only the fastest-growing component of global food production but an industry that is able to help climate change mitigation and adaptation measures. Seaweed aquaculture can act as a carbon sink for biofuel production, improve soil quality by acting as a substitute to more polluting synthetic fertilizer, and dampen wave energy to protect shorelines. However, the current seaweed aquaculture industry is limited by the availability of suitable areas and competition for suitable areas with other uses, engineering systems capable of coping with rough conditions offshore, and increasing market demand for seaweed products, among other factors.

5. Aquaculture and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice
FAO. 2018. The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2018 - Meeting the sustainable development goals. Rome. License: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO. http://www.fao.org/3/i9540en/i9540en.pdf
The United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals allows for an analysis of fisheries and aquaculture that focuses on food security, nutrition, sustainable use of natural resources, and takes into account economic, social, and environmental realities. While the report is now almost five years old, its focus on rights-based governance for equitable and inclusive development is still highly relevant today.

6. Regulations and Laws Regarding Aquaculture
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (2022). Guide to Permitting Marine Aquaculture in the United States. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. https://media.fisheries.noaa.gov/2022-02/Guide-Permitting-Marine-Aquaculture-United-States-2022.pdf
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration developed a guide for those interested in the United State's aquaculture policies and permitting. This guide is intended for individuals interested in applying for aquaculture permits and those who want to learn more about the permitting process including key application materials. While the document is not comprehensive, it includes a list of state-by-state permitting policies for shellfish, finfish, and seaweed.

Executive Office of the President. (2020, May 7). U. S. Executive Order 13921, Promoting American Seafood Competitiveness and Economic Growth.

In early 2020, President Biden signed E.O. 13921 of May 7, 2020, to revitalize the U.S. fishing industry. Notably, Section 6 sets out three criteria for aquaculture permitting:

1. located within the EEZ and outside of the waters of any State or Territory,

2. require environmental review or authorization by two or more (federal) agencies, and

3. the agency that would otherwise be the lead agency has determined that it will prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS).

These criteria are intended to promote a more competitive seafood industry within the United States, put safe and healthy food on American tables, and contribute to the American economy. This executive order also addresses the problems with illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, and improves transparency.
FAO. 2017. Climate Smart Agriculture Sourcebook - Climate-Smart Fisheries and Aquaculture. Rome.http://www.fao.org/climate-smart-agriculture-sourcebook/production-resources/module-b4-fisheries/b4-overview/en/
The Food and Agriculture Organization has created a sourcebook to "further elaborate the concept of climate-smart agriculture" including both its potential and limitations for dealing with the effects of climate change. This source would be most useful for policymakers at both the national and sub-national levels.
NATIONAL AQUACULTURE ACT OF 1980 Act of September 26, 1980, Public Law 96-362, 94 Stat. 1198, 16 U.S.C. 2801, et seq. https://www.agriculture.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/National%20Aquaculture%20Act%20Of%201980.pdf
Many of the United States' policies regarding Aquaculture can be traced back to the National Aquaculture Act of 1980. This law required the Department of Agriculture, Department of Commerce, the Department of the Interior, and Regional Fishery Management Councils to establish a National Aquaculture Development Plan. The law called for the plan to identify aquatic species with potential commercial uses, set out recommended actions to be taken by both private and public actors to promote aquaculture and research the effects of aquaculture on estuarine and marine ecosystems. It also created the Interagency Working Group on Aquaculture as the institutional structure to allow for coordination among U.S. federal agencies on aquaculture-related activities. The newest version of the plan, the National Strategic Plan for Federal Aquaculture Research (2014-2019), was created by the National Science and Technology Council Committee on Science Interagency Working Group on Aquaculture.

7. Additional Resources

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration created several fact sheets focused on various aspects of Aquaculture in the United State. Factsheets relevant to this Research Page include: Aquaculture and Environmental Interactions, Aquaculture Provides Beneficial Ecosystem Services, Climate Resilience and Aquaculture, Disaster Assistance for Fisheries, Marine Aquaculture in the U.S., Potential Risks of Aquaculture Escapes, Regulation of Marine Aquaculture, and Sustainable Aquaculture Feeds and Fish Nutrition.

White Papers by The Ocean Foundation:

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Sustainable Aquaculture - The Ocean Foundation

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Aquaculture makes a substantial contribution to our food supplies, so it must be done in a sustainable way.

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Ocean warming caused by climate change has reduced global fish catch potential by 4% over the past 80 years, with severe losses of up to 35% in regions like the North Sea and East Asia. Fish are sensitive to temperature changes, often migrating to cooler waters or suffering reduced growth and reproduction.(science Daily)

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Climate change has been steadily warming the ocean, which absorbs most of the heat trapped by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, for 100 years. This warming is altering marine ecosystems and having a direct impact on fish populations. About half of the world's population relies on fish as a vital source of protein, and the fishing industry employs more the 56 million people worldwide.

My recent study with colleagues from Rutgers University and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found that ocean warming has already impacted global fish populations. We found that some populations benefited from warming, but more of them suffered.

Overall, ocean warming reduced catch potential - the greatest amount of fish that can be caught year after year - by a net 4% over the past 80 years. In some regions, the effects of warming have been much larger. The North Sea, which has large commercial fisheries, and the seas of East Asia, which support some of the fastest-growing human populations, experienced losses of 15% to 35%.

Chris Free, CC BY-ND

Although ocean warming has already challenged the ability of ocean fisheries to provide food and income, swift reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and reforms to fisheries management could lessen many of the negative impacts of continued warming.

How and why does ocean warming affect fish?

My collaborators and I like to say that fish are like Goldilocks: They don't want their water too hot or too cold, but just right.

Put another way, most fish species have evolved narrow temperature tolerances. Supporting the cellular machinery necessary to tolerate wider temperatures demands a lot of energy. This evolutionary strategy saves energy when temperatures are "just right," but it becomes a problem when fish find themselves in warming water. As their bodies begin to fail, they must divert energy from searching for food or avoiding predators to maintaining basic bodily functions and searching for cooler waters.

Thus, as the oceans warm, fish move to track their preferred temperatures. Most fish are moving poleward or into deeper waters. For some species, warming expands their ranges. In other cases it contracts their ranges by reducing the amount of ocean they can thermally tolerate. These shifts change where fish go, their abundance and their catch potential.

Warming can also modify the availability of key prey species. For example, if warming causes zooplankton - small invertebrates at the bottom of the ocean food web - to bloom early, they may not be available when juvenile fish need them most. Alternatively, warming can sometimes enhance the strength of zooplankton blooms, thereby increasing the productivity of juvenile fish.

Understanding how the complex impacts of warming on fish populations balance out is crucial for projecting how climate change could affect the ocean's potential to provide food and income for people.

Impacts of historical warming on marine fisheries

Sustainable fisheries are like healthy bank accounts. If people live off the interest and don't overly deplete the principal, both people and the bank thrive. If a fish population is overfished, the population's "principal" shrinks too much to generate high long-term yields.

Similarly, stresses on fish populations from environmental change can reduce population growth rates, much as an interest rate reduction reduces the growth rate of savings in a bank account.

In our study we combined maps of historical ocean temperatures with estimates of historical fish abundance and exploitation. This allowed us to assess how warming has affected those interest rates and returns from the global fisheries bank account.

Losers outweigh winners

We found that warming has damaged some fisheries and benefited others. The losers outweighed the winners, resulting in a net 4% decline in sustainable catch potential over the last 80 years. This represents a cumulative loss of 1.4 million metric tons previously available for food and income.

Some regions have been hit especially hard. The North Sea, with large commercial fisheries for species like Atlantic cod, haddock and herring, has experienced a 35% loss in sustainable catch potential since 1930. The waters of East Asia, neighbored by some of the fastest-growing human populations in the world, saw losses of 8% to 35% across three seas.

Other species and regions benefited from warming. Black sea bass, a popular species among recreational anglers on the U.S. East Coast, expanded its range and catch potential as waters previously too cool for it warmed. In the Baltic Sea, juvenile herring and sprat - another small herring-like fish - have more food available to them in warm years than in cool years, and have also benefited from warming. However, these climate winners can tolerate only so much warming, and may see declines as temperatures continue to rise.

Robert F. Bukaty/AP

Management boosts fishes' resilience

Our work suggests three encouraging pieces of news for fish populations.

First, well-managed fisheries, such as Atlantic scallops on the U.S. East Coast, were among the most resilient to warming. Others with a history of overfishing, such as Atlantic cod in the Irish and North seas, were among the most vulnerable. These findings suggest that preventing overfishing and rebuilding overfished populations will enhance resilience and maximize long-term food and income potential.

Second, new research suggests that swift climate-adaptive management reforms can make it possible for fish to feed humans and generate income into the future. This will require scientific agencies to work with the fishing industry on new methods for assessing fish populations' health, set catch limits that account for the effects of climate change and establish new international institutions to ensure that management remains strong as fish migrate poleward from one nation's waters into another's. These agencies would be similar to multinational organizations that manage tuna, swordfish and marlin today.

Finally, nations will have to aggressively curb greenhouse gas emissions. Even the best fishery management reforms will be unable to compensate for the 4 degree Celsius ocean temperature increase that scientists project will occur by the end of this century if greenhouse gas emissions are not reduced.

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Ocean warming has fisheries on the move, helping some but hurting more

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Climate change has been steadily warming the ocean, which absorbs most of the heat trapped by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, for 100 years. This warming is altering marine ecosystems and having a direct impact on fish populations.

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After doing a deeper dive, I've realized that Over-fishing is most prevalent in the Mediterranean. I have decided to look more into specific problems the Mediterranean is suffering from.

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Of the 2 million tons of marine fish production in the Mediterranean region in 2019, 43% came from aquaculture. Despite the slight predominance of capture fisheries as the main production source, aquaculture is highly significant for several Mediterranean countries and plays an increasing role in fish supply.

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This website I found discusses issues-over-fishing included-that the Mediterranean sea faces. What caught my attention is a fishing technique known as Octopus pots, where black plastic pots are disguised as safe shelter for an octopus for easy capture. There are laws that prohibit overuse of these pots, but they are often ignored and are a significant cause of over-fishing in the Mediterranean

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Top 5 Threats to the Mediterranean Sea and How We Can Combat Them

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The Mediterranean Sea, renowned for its rich biodiversity, is also the most overfished sea in the world. Two of the biggest threats are illegal fishing practices and plastic pollution.

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Traditional fishing methods, like charfia used by Ahmed Taktak, who advocates sustainable practices, are threatened by illegal fishing trawlers that severely affect fish stocks and the surrounding seagrass meadows. Despite Tunisia having the largest fishing workforce in the Mediterranean, illegal fishing has surged since the Arab Spring, causing small-scale fishermen like Ahmed to struggle economically.

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The seagrass meadows around the Kerkennah Islands off Tunisia - one of the most important nurseries for marine life in the Mediterranean Sea - are under siege from illegal fishing

Report by Davide Mancini, Sara Manisera and Arianna Poletti

The flat, sandy landscape of the Kerkennah Islands is framed by date palms shaken by the winds blowing in from the Tunisian mainland, about 20 kilometres away. Small refrigerated vans travel along the few roads that run between the islands, making their way to and from the main port, from which a ferry connects the archipelago to the commercial port city of Sfax on the mainland. In Kerkennah, most of the 15,500 population is employed by the fishing industry. The islands are surrounded by one of the most extensive seagrass meadows in the world, which offers an ideal breeding ground for fish, octopus and crustaceans.

When Ahmed Taktak, 54, was a young boy, he could find plenty of octopus just by walking 10-20 metres from the shore into the shallow water that surrounds the islands. After spending around 30 years in Italy, he returned to his birthplace, where he had inherited fishing rights over a few hectares. Ahmed practises charfia, a traditional fishing technique that uses palm trees driven into the seafloor to create channels that funnel fish into traps. This ancient and sustainable technique was listed by UNESCO as an example of intangible cultural heritage three years ago.

Today, artisanal fishers such as Ahmed can barely make a living. The sea is being over-exploited by illegal fishing trawlers, which are having a devastating impact on the seagrass meadow and on fish stocks. Scientists and conservationists fear that uncontrolled trawling in the area could lead to the collapse of the populations of key species needed to sustain the marine environment.

Tunisia has the largest number of people employed in the fishing sector in the Mediterranean and Black seas. Of a total of 40,000 Tunisian fishers, about three-quarters are employed in small-scale fisheries. After the upheaval of the Arab Spring in 2011, many Tunisians moved to the fishing sector as the country suffered an economic crisis that still endures today. While the EU implemented measures to limit the fish takes of European vessels in the Mediterranean, North African countries such as Tunisia saw a surge of barely regulated fishing driven by socio-economic factors and market opportunity. In the central Mediterranean, Tunisia lands more fish than any other country, almost four times the amount recorded by Italy in 2018-20.

Ahmed explains how this is playing out on the islands. 'Fifteen years ago, the best fishing vessel in Kerkennah used gear of 75 horsepower maximum,' he says. 'Today, you see gears between 270 and 800 horsepower. They are not artisanal fishers. They use small boats to do bottom trawling in this area, which is illegal. They don't respect anything - neither the law nor the environment.'

The trawling equipment mounted on these small boats, known in Arabic as kiss (meaning 'bag') boats, is used for bottom trawling, previously the preserve of industrial vessels. Kiss boats are registered as artisanal vessels, bypassing industrial-fishing regulations, including requirements to log and trace their catches. Most of the fish illegally caught by kiss trawlers in Kerkennah is transported to Sfax, where it's mixed with catches from industrial trawlers and then exported.

After a stormy night, the sea around Ahmed's charfia system is calm and crystalline. It should be a perfect day to find trapped fish. However, Ahmed and his friend Mohammed only land a few gilt-head bream, a musky octopus and lots of blue crabs - a species that has invaded the Mediterranean from the warmer Red Sea. Due to the rising temperature of Mediterranean waters, the crustacean is spreading exponentially, particularly in the Gulf of Gabes. 'We call them Daesh, like the Islamic State in Arabic, because of their destructive characteristics,' says Ahmed. 'Wherever you find this crab, there will be no other crustacean left'.

Ahmed and Mohammed take their meagre catch home before returning to the same spot at dusk to lay a long fishing net, desperate to catch more. 'I bring about 60 kilos of blue crab every three days to a local middleman,' says Ahmed. 'He pays me 15-20 dinars [£4-£5] and throws away most of what I have caught because he says they can't be sold. The middlemen buy my blue crab for very little, but I don't have other options.'

He can't sell to the export companies, as they refuse to buy directly from small fishers. Exporters only deal with go-betweens who bring them tonnes of crabs collected by a large numbers of artisinal fishers.

Bending the rules

A 45-minute ferry ride connects the port of Kerkennah to mainland Tunisia. Sfax is one of the commercial hubs in Tunisia and an important shipping port in which many fish exporters are based. The sky is foggy and a strong smell covers the entire city. The nasty-smelling smoke comes from the large, open-air landfills around the city, where the garbage is burned non-stop, causing high levels of air pollution. The mismanagement of the garbage system is becoming an increasing problem, revealing yet another example of the collapse of essential public services in Tunisia.

One of the directors of a major export firm talks to us but insists on remaining anonymous. 'I receive product from 50 different fishing vessels every day,' he explains. 'How can I have real traceability? There isn't a digitised system here - documentation is all done on paper. I would need an encyclopaedia to export'.

His company is solely an export business: frozen products such as rose shrimps, prawns, octopus and squid are sold chiefly to Spain, Italy and France. A few years ago, he was one of the first exporters to find a market for the Tunisian blue crab in Asia, Australia and North America, where they can fetch around US$70 a kilo. He explains that, theoretically, Tunisian law requires that all catches landed by boats starting from its ports are documented, but this doesn't happen in practice. It's easy for the go-betweens to obtain fake certificates to present to exporters.

'I could refuse to buy irregular catches such as undersized octopus or squid,' he tells us. 'But if I do that, my competitors will buy it and export it anyway. The EU has a tracing system adapted for large, industrial fishing vessels, typically used in the Atlantic. But in Tunisia, in terms of certifications, it is all a theatre to keep the EU happy'.

The proliferation of the blue crab around Kerkennah is helped by the lack of predators such as octopus and squid. The cephalopods have been overfished in the area, so there's little to stop the spread of the invasive crabs in the Gulf of Gabes - fishers excluded.

Bottom trawling is an indiscriminate fishing method that catches whatever's on the seabed. Without law enforcement, the kiss-trawling activity is having a devastating impact on the seagrass meadows. A single pass of a beam trawl across the seabed destroys the meadow; it's estimated that it takes between 7.5 and 15 years to recover. The damage to this vast seagrass breeding zone doesn't only have an impact on the local marine life - it has global implications. Seagrass captures carbon up to 35 times faster than tropical rainforests and, even though it only covers 0.2 per cent of the seafloor, it absorbs ten per cent of the ocean's carbon each year, making it an incredible tool in the fight against climate change. The Tunisian seagrass beds are some of the largest known, covering more than 10,000 square kilometres. It's estimated that about 40 per cent of Tunisian fishing is carried out in seagrass areas - increasingly by illegal bottom-trawling.

'Compared to our previous counting in 2018, the number of kiss trawlers has increased by 38.5 per cent,' says Sofian Zerelli of the European NGO Fish Act. Sofian, originally from Tunisia and now living in Berlin, visited all of the ports in the Gulf of Gabes last November to create a record of illegal trawling. His team counted 576 vessels that were mounting kiss trawling gear, docked in different ports, including on the Kerkennah Islands. 'It is very difficult to stop this when the Tunisian authorities in charge of monitoring fishing do not have the resources and do not work together with the Coast Guard,' he tells us.

According to a number of different sources, the National Coast Guard is well aware of the problem, but there's widespread corruption and, in some cases, Coast Guard agents are directly involved in illegal fish trading. The fishing authorities, part of the Tunisian Ministry of the Environment, often lack the equipment and personnel to enforce the law. The Coast Guard has to tackle other issues, such as migration across the Mediterranean to Italy. 'The government needs to create a new authority that is 100 per cent dedicated to fishery law and enforcement, independent from other bodies,' says Sofian. 'This would be a major step towards controlling illegal fishing.'

As most of the fish caught in Tunisia are exported, it should be up to those countries to help regulate this trade. About 80 per cent heads to the EU, but different countries have different attitudes to enforcing the existing rules. In November, the EU IUU Coalition, a group of environmental NGOs that includes the Environmental Justice Foundation, Oceana, the Nature Conservancy, the Pew Charitable Trusts and WWF, published a report entitled Water-tight?, which concluded that this is allowing illegal imports to enter the EU because of lax enforcement in some countries.

For instance, Italy, one of the larger EU importers in terms of volume, received more than 96,000 catch certificates to import seafood from non-EU countries, including Tunisia, during the 2018-19 reporting period. Yet, not a single consignment was challenged. In comparison, in the same period, the UK received 54,278 catch certificates from non-EU countries and sent 43 verification requests about suspicious documentation.

Future hopes

At the end of the day, the sun is setting and Ahmed goes back on his boat. He still follows the lunar phases and only fishes ten days a month, when the tides drive fish into his charfia or his gillnets. Ahmed follows the natural rhythm of the sea. 'I will never do bottom trawling,' he says. 'I don't want to destroy my sea. We need to let the sea rest and let the fish reproduce. This is the only way to have a future on this island.'

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How illegally caught fish in the Mediterranean enter Europe

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The seagrass meadows around the Kerkennah Islands off Tunisia, one of the Med's key marine nurseries, are under siege from illegal fishing

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I think I want to research over-fishing which must be addressed to reach SDG goal #14. I will focus on the Mediterranean sea and sustainable aquaculture. I want to research this because I believe we have to preserve the rich and bountiful life below water, and as of now we are doing a poor job. There are many issues with our waters, but if we as a planet are able to practice sustainable aquaculture, we may be able to dig ourselves out of a steep hole.

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What role can community-based aquaculture initiatives play in promoting sustainable fishing practices and preserving marine life in the Mediterranean region?

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How do current aquaculture operations in the Mediterranean affect the health and biodiversity of marine habitats, and what improvements can be made to enhance sustainability?